A Lvq-Based Temporal Tracking for Semi-Automatic Video Object Segmentation

This paper presents a Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ)-based temporal tracking method for semi-automatic video object segmentation. A semantic video object is initialized using user assistance in a reference frame to give initial classification of video object and its background regions. The LVQ training approximates video object and background classification and use them for automatic segmentation of the video object on the following frames thus performing temporal tracking. For LVQ training input, we sampling each pixel of a video frame as a 5-dimensional vector combining 2-dimensional pixel position (X,Y) and 3-dimensional HSV color space. This paper also demonstrates experiments using some MPEG-4 standard test video sequences to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method

Practical Uses of A Semi-automatic Video Object Extraction System

Object-based technology is important for computer vision applications including gesture understanding, image recognition, augmented reality, etc. However, extracting the shape information of semantic objects from video sequences is a very difficult task, since this information is not explicitly provided within the video data. Therefore, an application for exttracting the semantic video object is indispensable and important for many advanced applications. An algorithm for semi-automatic video object extraction system has been developed. The performance measures of video object extraction system; including evaluation using ground truth and error metric is shown, followed by some practical uses of our video object extraction system. The principle at the basis of semi-automatic object extraction technique is the interaction of the user during some stages of the segmentation process, whereby the semantic information is provided directly by the user. After the user provides the initial segmentation of the semantic video objects, a tracking mechanism follows its temporal transformation in the subsequent frames, thus propagating the semantic information. Since the tracking tends to introduce boundary errors, the semantic information can be refreshed by the user at certain key frame locations in the video sequence. The tracking mechanism can also operate in forward or backward direction of the video sequence. The performance analysis of the results is described using single and multiple key frames; Mean Error and “Last_Error”, and also forward and backward extraction. To achieve best performance, results from forward and backward extraction can be merged

Soft computing applied to optimization, computer vision and medicine

Artificial intelligence has permeated almost every area of life in modern society, and its significance continues to grow. As a result, in recent years, Soft Computing has emerged as a powerful set of methodologies that propose innovative and robust solutions to a variety of complex problems. Soft Computing methods, because of their broad range of application, have the potential to significantly improve human living conditions. The motivation for the present research emerged from this background and possibility. This research aims to accomplish two main objectives: On the one hand, it endeavors to bridge the gap between Soft Computing techniques and their application to intricate problems. On the other hand, it explores the hypothetical benefits of Soft Computing methodologies as novel effective tools for such problems. This thesis synthesizes the results of extensive research on Soft Computing methods and their applications to optimization, Computer Vision, and medicine. This work is composed of several individual projects, which employ classical and new optimization algorithms. The manuscript presented here intends to provide an overview of the different aspects of Soft Computing methods in order to enable the reader to reach a global understanding of the field. Therefore, this document is assembled as a monograph that summarizes the outcomes of these projects across 12 chapters. The chapters are structured so that they can be read independently. The key focus of this work is the application and design of Soft Computing approaches for solving problems in the following: Block Matching, Pattern Detection, Thresholding, Corner Detection, Template Matching, Circle Detection, Color Segmentation, Leukocyte Detection, and Breast Thermogram Analysis. One of the outcomes presented in this thesis involves the development of two evolutionary approaches for global optimization. These were tested over complex benchmark datasets and showed promising results, thus opening the debate for future applications. Moreover, the applications for Computer Vision and medicine presented in this work have highlighted the utility of different Soft Computing methodologies in the solution of problems in such subjects. A milestone in this area is the translation of the Computer Vision and medical issues into optimization problems. Additionally, this work also strives to provide tools for combating public health issues by expanding the concepts to automated detection and diagnosis aid for pathologies such as Leukemia and breast cancer. The application of Soft Computing techniques in this field has attracted great interest worldwide due to the exponential growth of these diseases. Lastly, the use of Fuzzy Logic, Artificial Neural Networks, and Expert Systems in many everyday domestic appliances, such as washing machines, cookers, and refrigerators is now a reality. Many other industrial and commercial applications of Soft Computing have also been integrated into everyday use, and this is expected to increase within the next decade. Therefore, the research conducted here contributes an important piece for expanding these developments. The applications presented in this work are intended to serve as technological tools that can then be used in the development of new devices

Hypothesis-based image segmentation for object learning and recognition

Denecke A. Hypothesis-based image segmentation for object learning and recognition. Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld; 2010.This thesis addresses the figure-ground segmentation problem in the context of complex systems for automatic object recognition as well as for the online and interactive acquisition of visual representations. First the problem of image segmentation in general terms and next its importance for object learning in current state-of-the-art systems is introduced. Secondly a method using artificial neural networks is presented. This approach on the basis of Generalized Learning Vector Quantization is investigated in challenging scenarios such as the real-time figure-ground segmentation of complex shaped objects under continuously changing environment conditions. The ability to fulfill these requirements characterizes the novelty of the approach compared to state-of-the-art methods. Finally our technique is extended towards online adaption of model complexity and the integration of several segmentation cues. This yields a framework for object segmentation that is applicable to improve current systems for visual object learning and recognition

Biologically Inspired Computer Vision/ Applications of Computational Models of Primate Visual Systems in Computer Vision and Image Processing

Biologically Inspired Computer VisionApplications of Computational Models of Primate Visual Systems in Computer Vision and Image Processing Reza Hojjaty Saeedy Abstract Biological vision systems are remarkable at extracting and analyzing the information that is essential for vital functional needs. They perform all these tasks with both high sensitivity and strong reliability. They can efficiently and quickly solve most of the difficult computa- tional problems that are still challenging for artificial systems, such as scene segmentation, 3D/depth perception, motion recognition, etc. So it is no surprise that biological vision systems have been a source of inspiration for computer vision problems. In this research, we aim to provide a computer vision task centric framework out of models primarily originating in biological vision studies. We try to address two specific tasks here: saliency detection and object classification. In both of these tasks we use features extracted from computational models of biological vision systems as a starting point for further processing. Saliency maps are 2D topographic maps that catch the most conspicuous regions of a scene, i.e. the pixels in an image that stand out against their neighboring pixels. So these maps can be thought of as representations of the human attention process and thus have a lot of applications in computer vision. We propose a cascade that combines two well- known computational models for perception of color and orientation in order to simulate the responses of the primary areas of the primate visual cortex. We use these responses as inputs to a spiking neural network(SNN) and finally the output of this SNN will serve as the input to our post-processing algorithm for saliency detection. Object classification/detection is the most studied task in computer vision and machine learning and it is interesting that while it looks trivial for humans it is a difficult problem for artificial systems. For this part of the thesis we also design a pipeline including feature extraction using biologically inspired systems, manifold learning for dimensionality reduction and self-organizing(vector quantization) neural network as a supervised method for prototype learning

Biologically Inspired Computer Vision/ Applications of Computational Models of Primate Visual Systems in Computer Vision and Image Processing

Biologically Inspired Computer VisionApplications of Computational Models of Primate Visual Systems in Computer Vision and Image Processing Reza Hojjaty Saeedy Abstract Biological vision systems are remarkable at extracting and analyzing the information that is essential for vital functional needs. They perform all these tasks with both high sensitivity and strong reliability. They can efficiently and quickly solve most of the difficult computa- tional problems that are still challenging for artificial systems, such as scene segmentation, 3D/depth perception, motion recognition, etc. So it is no surprise that biological vision systems have been a source of inspiration for computer vision problems. In this research, we aim to provide a computer vision task centric framework out of models primarily originating in biological vision studies. We try to address two specific tasks here: saliency detection and object classification. In both of these tasks we use features extracted from computational models of biological vision systems as a starting point for further processing. Saliency maps are 2D topographic maps that catch the most conspicuous regions of a scene, i.e. the pixels in an image that stand out against their neighboring pixels. So these maps can be thought of as representations of the human attention process and thus have a lot of applications in computer vision. We propose a cascade that combines two well- known computational models for perception of color and orientation in order to simulate the responses of the primary areas of the primate visual cortex. We use these responses as inputs to a spiking neural network(SNN) and finally the output of this SNN will serve as the input to our post-processing algorithm for saliency detection. Object classification/detection is the most studied task in computer vision and machine learning and it is interesting that while it looks trivial for humans it is a difficult problem for artificial systems. For this part of the thesis we also design a pipeline including feature extraction using biologically inspired systems, manifold learning for dimensionality reduction and self-organizing(vector quantization) neural network as a supervised method for prototype learning

09081 Abstracts Collection -- Similarity-based learning on structures

From 15.02. to 20.02.2009, the Dagstuhl Seminar 09081 ``Similarity-based learning on structures \u27\u27 was held in Schloss Dagstuhl~--~Leibniz Center for Informatics. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

Towards a Video Quality Assessment based Framework for Enhancement of Laparoscopic Videos

Laparoscopic videos can be affected by different distortions which may impact the performance of surgery and introduce surgical errors. In this work, we propose a framework for automatically detecting and identifying such distortions and their severity using video quality assessment. There are three major contributions presented in this work (i) a proposal for a novel video enhancement framework for laparoscopic surgery; (ii) a publicly available database for quality assessment of laparoscopic videos evaluated by expert as well as non-expert observers and (iii) objective video quality assessment of laparoscopic videos including their correlations with expert and non-expert scores.Comment: SPIE Medical Imaging 2020 (Draft version