A two-stage dynamic model for visual tracking

IEEE Trans Syst Man Cybern B Cybern. 2010 Dec;40(6):1505-20. doi: 10.1109/TSMCB.2010.2041662. Epub 2010 Mar 8.

Abstract

We propose a new dynamic model which can be used within blob trackers to track the target's center of gravity. A strong point of the model is that it is designed to track a variety of motions which are usually encountered in applications such as pedestrian tracking, hand tracking, and sports. We call the dynamic model a two-stage dynamic model due to its particular structure, which is a composition of two models: a liberal model and a conservative model. The liberal model allows larger perturbations in the target's dynamics and is able to account for motions in between the random-walk dynamics and the nearly constant-velocity dynamics. On the other hand, the conservative model assumes smaller perturbations and is used to further constrain the liberal model to the target's current dynamics. We implement the two-stage dynamic model in a two-stage probabilistic tracker based on the particle filter and apply it to two separate examples of blob tracking: 1) tracking entire persons and 2) tracking of a person's hands. Experiments show that, in comparison to the widely used models, the proposed two-stage dynamic model allows tracking with smaller number of particles in the particle filter (e.g., 25 particles), while achieving smaller errors in the state estimation and a smaller failure rate. The results suggest that the improved performance comes from the model's ability to actively adapt to the target's motion during tracking.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms*
  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Motion
  • Pattern Recognition, Automated / methods*