162 research outputs found
Accurate Light Field Depth Estimation with Superpixel Regularization over Partially Occluded Regions
Depth estimation is a fundamental problem for light field photography
applications. Numerous methods have been proposed in recent years, which either
focus on crafting cost terms for more robust matching, or on analyzing the
geometry of scene structures embedded in the epipolar-plane images. Significant
improvements have been made in terms of overall depth estimation error;
however, current state-of-the-art methods still show limitations in handling
intricate occluding structures and complex scenes with multiple occlusions. To
address these challenging issues, we propose a very effective depth estimation
framework which focuses on regularizing the initial label confidence map and
edge strength weights. Specifically, we first detect partially occluded
boundary regions (POBR) via superpixel based regularization. Series of
shrinkage/reinforcement operations are then applied on the label confidence map
and edge strength weights over the POBR. We show that after weight
manipulations, even a low-complexity weighted least squares model can produce
much better depth estimation than state-of-the-art methods in terms of average
disparity error rate, occlusion boundary precision-recall rate, and the
preservation of intricate visual features
Light Field Depth Estimation Based on Stitched-EPI
Depth estimation is one of the most essential problems for light field
applications. In EPI-based methods, the slope computation usually suffers low
accuracy due to the discretization error and low angular resolution. In
addition, recent methods work well in most regions but often struggle with
blurry edges over occluded regions and ambiguity over texture-less regions. To
address these challenging issues, we first propose the stitched-EPI and
half-stitched-EPI algorithms for non-occluded and occluded regions,
respectively. The algorithms improve slope computation by shifting and
concatenating lines in different EPIs but related to the same point in 3D
scene, while the half-stitched-EPI only uses non-occluded part of lines.
Combined with the joint photo-consistency cost proposed by us, the more
accurate and robust depth map can be obtained in both occluded and non-occluded
regions. Furthermore, to improve the depth estimation in texture-less regions,
we propose a depth propagation strategy that determines their depth from the
edge to interior, from accurate regions to coarse regions. Experimental and
ablation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves accurate and
robust depth maps in all regions effectively.Comment: 15 page
OccCasNet: Occlusion-aware Cascade Cost Volume for Light Field Depth Estimation
Light field (LF) depth estimation is a crucial task with numerous practical
applications. However, mainstream methods based on the multi-view stereo (MVS)
are resource-intensive and time-consuming as they need to construct a finer
cost volume. To address this issue and achieve a better trade-off between
accuracy and efficiency, we propose an occlusion-aware cascade cost volume for
LF depth (disparity) estimation. Our cascaded strategy reduces the sampling
number while keeping the sampling interval constant during the construction of
a finer cost volume. We also introduce occlusion maps to enhance accuracy in
constructing the occlusion-aware cost volume. Specifically, we first obtain the
coarse disparity map through the coarse disparity estimation network. Then, the
sub-aperture images (SAIs) of side views are warped to the center view based on
the initial disparity map. Next, we propose photo-consistency constraints
between the warped SAIs and the center SAI to generate occlusion maps for each
SAI. Finally, we introduce the coarse disparity map and occlusion maps to
construct an occlusion-aware refined cost volume, enabling the refined
disparity estimation network to yield a more precise disparity map. Extensive
experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. Compared with
state-of-the-art methods, our method achieves a superior balance between
accuracy and efficiency and ranks first in terms of MSE and Q25 metrics among
published methods on the HCI 4D benchmark. The code and model of the proposed
method are available at https://github.com/chaowentao/OccCasNet
Depth-Assisted Semantic Segmentation, Image Enhancement and Parametric Modeling
This dissertation addresses the problem of employing 3D depth information on solving a number of traditional challenging computer vision/graphics problems. Humans have the abilities of perceiving the depth information in 3D world, which enable humans to reconstruct layouts, recognize objects and understand the geometric space and semantic meanings of the visual world. Therefore it is significant to explore how the 3D depth information can be utilized by computer vision systems to mimic such abilities of humans. This dissertation aims at employing 3D depth information to solve vision/graphics problems in the following aspects: scene understanding, image enhancements and 3D reconstruction and modeling.
In addressing scene understanding problem, we present a framework for semantic segmentation and object recognition on urban video sequence only using dense depth maps recovered from the video. Five view-independent 3D features that vary with object class are extracted from dense depth maps and used for segmenting and recognizing different object classes in street scene images. We demonstrate a scene parsing algorithm that uses only dense 3D depth information to outperform using sparse 3D or 2D appearance features.
In addressing image enhancement problem, we present a framework to overcome the imperfections of personal photographs of tourist sites using the rich information provided by large-scale internet photo collections (IPCs). By augmenting personal 2D images with 3D information reconstructed from IPCs, we address a number of traditionally challenging image enhancement techniques and achieve high-quality results using simple and robust algorithms.
In addressing 3D reconstruction and modeling problem, we focus on parametric modeling of flower petals, the most distinctive part of a plant. The complex structure, severe occlusions and wide variations make the reconstruction of their 3D models a challenging task. We overcome these challenges by combining data driven modeling techniques with domain knowledge from botany. Taking a 3D point cloud of an input flower scanned from a single view, each segmented petal is fitted with a scale-invariant morphable petal shape model, which is constructed from individually scanned 3D exemplar petals. Novel constraints based on botany studies are incorporated into the fitting process for realistically reconstructing occluded regions and maintaining correct 3D spatial relations.
The main contribution of the dissertation is in the intelligent usage of 3D depth information on solving traditional challenging vision/graphics problems. By developing some advanced algorithms either automatically or with minimum user interaction, the goal of this dissertation is to demonstrate that computed 3D depth behind the multiple images contains rich information of the visual world and therefore can be intelligently utilized to recognize/ understand semantic meanings of scenes, efficiently enhance and augment single 2D images, and reconstruct high-quality 3D models
Combining Features and Semantics for Low-level Computer Vision
Visual perception of depth and motion plays a significant role in understanding and navigating the environment.
Reconstructing outdoor scenes in 3D and estimating the motion from video cameras are of utmost importance for applications like autonomous driving.
The corresponding problems in computer vision have witnessed tremendous progress over the last decades, yet some aspects still remain challenging today. Striking examples are reflecting and textureless surfaces or large motions which cannot be easily recovered using traditional local methods. Further challenges include occlusions, large distortions and difficult lighting conditions. In this thesis, we propose to overcome these challenges by modeling non-local interactions leveraging semantics and contextual information.
Firstly, for binocular stereo estimation, we propose to regularize over larger areas on the image using object-category specific disparity proposals which we sample using inverse graphics techniques based on a sparse disparity estimate and a semantic segmentation of the image. The disparity proposals encode the fact that objects of certain categories are not arbitrarily shaped but typically exhibit regular structures. We integrate them as non-local regularizer for the challenging object class 'car' into a superpixel-based graphical model and demonstrate its benefits especially in reflective regions.
Secondly, for 3D reconstruction, we leverage the fact that the larger the reconstructed area, the more likely objects of similar type and shape will occur in the scene. This is particularly true for outdoor scenes where buildings and vehicles often suffer from missing texture or reflections, but share similarity in 3D shape. We take advantage of this shape similarity by localizing objects using detectors and jointly reconstructing them while learning a volumetric model of their shape. This allows to reduce noise while completing missing surfaces as objects of similar shape benefit from all observations for the respective category. Evaluations with respect to LIDAR ground-truth on a novel challenging suburban dataset show the advantages of modeling structural dependencies between objects.
Finally, motivated by the success of deep learning techniques in matching problems, we present a method for learning context-aware features for solving optical flow using discrete optimization. Towards this goal, we present an efficient way of training a context network with a large receptive field size on top of a local network using dilated convolutions on patches. We perform feature matching by comparing each pixel in the reference image to every pixel in the target image, utilizing fast GPU matrix multiplication. The matching cost volume from the network's output forms the data term for discrete MAP inference in a pairwise Markov random field. Extensive evaluations reveal the importance of context for feature matching.Die visuelle Wahrnehmung von Tiefe und Bewegung spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei dem Verständnis und der Navigation in unserer Umwelt. Die 3D Rekonstruktion von Szenen im Freien und die Schätzung der Bewegung von Videokameras sind von größter Bedeutung für Anwendungen, wie das autonome Fahren.
Die Erforschung der entsprechenden Probleme des maschinellen Sehens hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten enorme Fortschritte gemacht, jedoch bleiben einige Aspekte heute noch ungelöst. Beispiele hierfür sind reflektierende und texturlose Oberflächen oder große Bewegungen, bei denen herkömmliche lokale Methoden häufig scheitern. Weitere Herausforderungen sind niedrige Bildraten, Verdeckungen, große Verzerrungen und schwierige Lichtverhältnisse. In dieser Arbeit schlagen wir vor nicht-lokale Interaktionen zu modellieren, die semantische und kontextbezogene Informationen nutzen, um diese Herausforderungen zu meistern.
Für die binokulare Stereo Schätzung schlagen wir zuallererst vor zusammenhängende Bereiche mit objektklassen-spezifischen Disparitäts Vorschlägen zu regularisieren, die wir mit inversen Grafik Techniken auf der Grundlage einer spärlichen Disparitätsschätzung und semantischen Segmentierung des Bildes erhalten. Die Disparitäts Vorschläge kodieren die Tatsache, dass die Gegenstände bestimmter Kategorien nicht willkürlich geformt sind, sondern typischerweise regelmäßige Strukturen aufweisen. Wir integrieren sie für die komplexe Objektklasse 'Auto' in Form eines nicht-lokalen Regularisierungsterm in ein Superpixel-basiertes grafisches Modell und zeigen die Vorteile vor allem in reflektierenden Bereichen.
Zweitens nutzen wir für die 3D-Rekonstruktion die Tatsache, dass mit der Größe der rekonstruierten Fläche auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit steigt, Objekte von ähnlicher Art und Form in der Szene zu enthalten. Dies gilt besonders für Szenen im Freien, in denen Gebäude und Fahrzeuge oft vorkommen, die unter fehlender Textur oder Reflexionen leiden aber ähnlichkeit in der Form aufweisen. Wir nutzen diese ähnlichkeiten zur Lokalisierung von Objekten mit Detektoren und zur gemeinsamen Rekonstruktion indem ein volumetrisches Modell ihrer Form erlernt wird. Dies ermöglicht auftretendes Rauschen zu reduzieren, während fehlende Flächen vervollständigt werden, da Objekte ähnlicher Form von allen Beobachtungen der jeweiligen Kategorie profitieren. Die Evaluierung auf einem neuen, herausfordernden vorstädtischen Datensatz in Anbetracht von LIDAR-Entfernungsdaten zeigt die Vorteile der Modellierung von strukturellen Abhängigkeiten zwischen Objekten.
Zuletzt, motiviert durch den Erfolg von Deep Learning Techniken bei der Mustererkennung, präsentieren wir eine Methode zum Erlernen von kontextbezogenen Merkmalen zur Lösung des optischen Flusses mittels diskreter Optimierung. Dazu stellen wir eine effiziente Methode vor um zusätzlich zu einem Lokalen Netzwerk ein Kontext-Netzwerk zu erlernen, das mit Hilfe von erweiterter Faltung auf Patches ein großes rezeptives Feld besitzt. Für das Feature Matching vergleichen wir mit schnellen GPU-Matrixmultiplikation jedes Pixel im Referenzbild mit jedem Pixel im Zielbild. Das aus dem Netzwerk resultierende Matching Kostenvolumen bildet den Datenterm für eine diskrete MAP Inferenz in einem paarweisen Markov Random Field. Eine umfangreiche Evaluierung zeigt die Relevanz des Kontextes für das Feature Matching
Context-driven Object Detection and Segmentation with Auxiliary Information
One fundamental problem in computer vision and robotics is to
localize objects of interest in an image. The task can either be
formulated as an object detection problem if the objects are
described by a set of pose parameters, or an object segmentation
one if we recover object boundary precisely. A key issue in
object detection and segmentation concerns exploiting the spatial
context, as local evidence is often insufficient to determine
object pose in the presence of heavy occlusions or large object
appearance variations. This thesis addresses the object detection
and segmentation problem in such adverse conditions with
auxiliary depth data provided by RGBD cameras. We focus on four
main issues in context-aware object detection and segmentation:
1) what are the effective context representations? 2) how can we
work with limited and imperfect depth data? 3) how to design
depth-aware features and integrate depth cues into conventional
visual inference tasks? 4) how to make use of unlabeled data to
relax the labeling requirements for training data?
We discuss three object detection and segmentation scenarios
based on varying amounts of available auxiliary information. In
the first case, depth data are available for model training but
not available for testing. We propose a structured Hough voting
method for detecting objects with heavy occlusion in indoor
environments, in which we extend the Hough hypothesis space to
include both the object's location, and its visibility pattern.
We design a new score function that accumulates votes for object
detection and occlusion prediction. In addition, we explore the
correlation between objects and their environment, building a
depth-encoded object-context model based on RGBD data. In the
second case, we address the problem of localizing glass objects
with noisy and incomplete depth data. Our method integrates the
intensity and depth information from a single view point, and
builds a Markov Random Field that predicts glass boundary and
region jointly. In addition, we propose a nonparametric,
data-driven label transfer scheme for local glass boundary
estimation. A weighted voting scheme based on a joint feature
manifold is adopted to integrate depth and appearance cues, and
we learn a distance metric on the depth-encoded feature manifold.
In the third case, we make use of unlabeled data to relax the
annotation requirements for object detection and segmentation,
and propose a novel data-dependent margin distribution learning
criterion for boosting, which utilizes the intrinsic geometric
structure of datasets. One key aspect of this method is that it
can seamlessly incorporate unlabeled data by including a graph
Laplacian regularizer. We demonstrate the performance of our
models and compare with baseline methods on several real-world
object detection and segmentation tasks, including indoor object
detection, glass object segmentation and foreground segmentation
in video
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