Analysis and synthesis of iris images

Of all the physiological traits of the human body that help in personal identification, the iris is probably the most robust and accurate. Although numerous iris recognition algorithms have been proposed, the underlying processes that define the texture of irises have not been extensively studied. In this thesis, multiple pair-wise pixel interactions have been used to describe the textural content of the iris image thereby resulting in a Markov Random Field (MRF) model for the iris image. This information is expected to be useful for the development of user-specific models for iris images, i.e. the matcher could be tuned to accommodate the characteristics of each user\u27s iris image in order to improve matching performance. We also use MRF modeling to construct synthetic irises based on iris primitive extracted from real iris images. The synthesis procedure is deterministic and avoids the sampling of a probability distribution making it computationally simple. We demonstrate that iris textures in general are significantly different from other irregular textural patterns. Clustering experiments indicate that the synthetic irises generated using the proposed technique are similar in textural content to real iris images

A Contrast-Based Approach to the Identification of Texture Faults

Texture analysis based on the extraction of contrast features is very effective in terms of both computational complexity and discrimination capability. In this framework, max-min approaches have been proposed in the past as a simple and powerful tool to characterize a statistical texture. In the present work, a method is proposed that allows exploiting the potential of max -min approaches to efficiently solve the problem of detecting local alterations in a uniform statistical texture. Experimental results show a high defect discrimination capability and a good attitude to real-time applications, which make it particularly attractive for the development of industrial visual inspection systems

Mètode d'extracció multiparamètrica de característiques de textura orientat a la segmentació d'imatges

Tal com es veurà en el següent capítol d'antecedents, existeixen formes molt variades d'afrontar l'anàlisi de textures però cap d'elles està orientada al càlcul en temps real (video rate). Degut a la manca de mètodes que posin tant d'èmfasi en el temps de processat, l'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és definir i desenvolupar un nou mètode d'extracció de característiques de textura que treballi en temps real. Per aconseguir aquesta alta velocitat d'operació, un altre objectiu és presentar el disseny d'una arquitectura específica per implementar l'algorisme de càlcul dels paràmetres de textura definits, així com també l'algorisme de classificació dels paràmetres i la segmentació de la imatge en regions de textura semblant.En el capítol 2 s'expliquen els diversos mètodes més rellevants dins la caracterització de textures. Es veuran els mètodes més importants tant pel que fa als enfocaments estadístics com als estructurals. També en el mateix capítol se situa el nou mètode presentat en aquesta tesi dins els diferents enfocaments principals que existeixen. De la mateixa manera es fa una breu ressenya a la síntesi de textures, una manera d'avaluar quantitativament la caracterització de la textura d'una imatge. Ens centrarem principalment, en el capítol 3, en l'explicació del mètode presentat en aquest treball: s'introduiran els paràmetres de textura proposats, la seva necessitat i definicions. Al ser paràmetres altament perceptius i no seguir cap model matemàtic, en aquest mateix capítol s'utilitza una tècnica estadística anomenada anàlisi discriminant per demostrar que tots els paràmetres introdueixen suficient informació per a la separabilitat de regions de textura i veure que tots ells són necessaris en la discriminació de les textures.Dins el capítol 4 veurem com es tracta la informació subministrada pel sistema d'extracció de característiques per tal de classificar les dades i segmentar la imatge en funció de les seves textures. L'etapa de reconeixement de patrons es durà a terme en dues fases: aprenentatge i treball. També es presenta un estudi comparatiu entre diversos mètodes de classificació de textures i el mètode presentat en aquesta tesi; en ell es veu la bona funcionalitat del mètode en un temps de càlcul realment reduït. S'acaba el capítol amb una anàlisi de la robustesa del mètode introduint imatges amb diferents nivells de soroll aleatori. En el capítol 5 es presentaran els resultats obtinguts mitjançant l'extracció de característiques de textura a partir de diverses aplicacions reals. S'aplica el nostre mètode en aplicacions d'imatges aèries i en entorns agrícoles i sobre situacions que requereixen el processament en temps real com són la segmentació d'imatges de carreteres i una aplicació industrial d'inspecció i control de qualitat en l'estampació de teixits. Al final del capítol fem unes consideracions sobre dos efectes que poden influenciar en l'obtenció correcta dels resultats: zoom i canvis de perspectiva en les imatges de textura.En el capítol 6 es mostrarà l'arquitectura que s'ha dissenyat expressament per al càlcul dels paràmetres de textura en temps real. Dins el capítol es presentarà l'algorisme per a l'assignació de grups de textura i es demostrarà la seva velocitat d'operació a video rate.Finalment, en el capítol 7 es presentaran les conclusions i les línies de treball futures que es deriven d'aquesta tesi, així com els articles que hem publicat en relació a aquest treball i a l'anàlisi de textures. Les referències bibliogràfiques i els apèndixs conclouen el treball

Supervised and unsupervised segmentation of textured images by efficient multi-level pattern classification

This thesis proposes new, efficient methodologies for supervised and unsupervised image segmentation based on texture information. For the supervised case, a technique for pixel classification based on a multi-level strategy that iteratively refines the resulting segmentation is proposed. This strategy utilizes pattern recognition methods based on prototypes (determined by clustering algorithms) and support vector machines. In order to obtain the best performance, an algorithm for automatic parameter selection and methods to reduce the computational cost associated with the segmentation process are also included. For the unsupervised case, the previous methodology is adapted by means of an initial pattern discovery stage, which allows transforming the original unsupervised problem into a supervised one. Several sets of experiments considering a wide variety of images are carried out in order to validate the developed techniques.Esta tesis propone metodologías nuevas y eficientes para segmentar imágenes a partir de información de textura en entornos supervisados y no supervisados. Para el caso supervisado, se propone una técnica basada en una estrategia de clasificación de píxeles multinivel que refina la segmentación resultante de forma iterativa. Dicha estrategia utiliza métodos de reconocimiento de patrones basados en prototipos (determinados mediante algoritmos de agrupamiento) y máquinas de vectores de soporte. Con el objetivo de obtener el mejor rendimiento, se incluyen además un algoritmo para selección automática de parámetros y métodos para reducir el coste computacional asociado al proceso de segmentación. Para el caso no supervisado, se propone una adaptación de la metodología anterior mediante una etapa inicial de descubrimiento de patrones que permite transformar el problema no supervisado en supervisado. Las técnicas desarrolladas en esta tesis se validan mediante diversos experimentos considerando una gran variedad de imágenes

Fractals in elastic-plastic transitions of random heterogeneous materials

In this thesis we propose a fractal analysis methodology to study elastic-plastic transitions in random heterogeneous materials. While it is well known that many materials display fractal characteristics, very little work was done on fractals in elasto-plasticity, and so this study is one of the first attempts in that direction. Fractal patterns have been found to form in 2D aggregates of grains of either elastic-perfectly plastic type, or elastic-hardening-plastic type, or thermo-elastic-plastic class (or elastic-plastic type with residual strains). The grains are either isotropic or anisotropic, with random, spatially non-fractal perturbations in properties such as elastic/plastic moduli, yield stresses or thermal expansion coefficients (or residual strains). The flow rule of each grain follows associated plasticity with increasing loads applied through either one of three macroscopically uniform boundary conditions admitted by the Hill-Mandel condition. Following an evolution of a set of grains that have become plastic, we find that it is an evolving fractal with its fractal dimension increasing from 0 towards 2. In essence, any non-zero noise in grains??? properties gives rise to fractal patterns of plastic grains. While the grains possess sharp elastic-plastic stress-strain curves, the overall stress-strain responses are curved and asymptote toward perfectly-plastic flows; all these responses display smooth transitions but, as the randomness in properties decreases to zero, they turn into conventional curves with sharp kinks of homogeneous materials. The influence of plastic hardening and thermal effects on elastic-plastic transitions are further investigated by varying model configurations. It turns out that the fractal dimension provides an optimal parameter for describing the transition patterns in a unified way for a range of different materials

Machine vision techniques for inspection of dry-fibre composite preforms in the aerospace industry

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis presents the results of a three year investigation into machine vision techniques for in-process automated inspection of dry-fibre composite preforms. Efficient texture analysis based techniques have been developed, tested, and implemented in a prototype robotic assembly cell. Industrial constraints have been considered in the development of all the algorithms described. A single channel texture analysis model is described which can successfully segment images containing only a few textures. The model is based on convolution of the image with small kernels optimised for the task, and is elegant in the sense that it is computationally simple and easily realisable in low cost hardware. A new convolution kernel optimisation algorithm is described. It is demonstrated that convolution kernels can also be optimised to perform as edge operators in simple textured images. A novel boundary refinement algorithm is described which reduces the inspection errors inherent in texture based boundary estimates. The algorithm takes the form of a local search, using the texture estimate as a guiding template, and selects edge points by maximising a merit function. Optimum parameters for the merit function are obtained using multiple training images in conjunction with simple function optimisation algorithms.This study is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Dowty Aerospace Propellers Ltd

Information Extraction and Modeling from Remote Sensing Images: Application to the Enhancement of Digital Elevation Models

To deal with high complexity data such as remote sensing images presenting metric resolution over large areas, an innovative, fast and robust image processing system is presented. The modeling of increasing level of information is used to extract, represent and link image features to semantic content. The potential of the proposed techniques is demonstrated with an application to enhance and regularize digital elevation models based on information collected from RS images

Texture Structure Analysis

abstract: Texture analysis plays an important role in applications like automated pattern inspection, image and video compression, content-based image retrieval, remote-sensing, medical imaging and document processing, to name a few. Texture Structure Analysis is the process of studying the structure present in the textures. This structure can be expressed in terms of perceived regularity. Our human visual system (HVS) uses the perceived regularity as one of the important pre-attentive cues in low-level image understanding. Similar to the HVS, image processing and computer vision systems can make fast and efficient decisions if they can quantify this regularity automatically. In this work, the problem of quantifying the degree of perceived regularity when looking at an arbitrary texture is introduced and addressed. One key contribution of this work is in proposing an objective no-reference perceptual texture regularity metric based on visual saliency. Other key contributions include an adaptive texture synthesis method based on texture regularity, and a low-complexity reduced-reference visual quality metric for assessing the quality of synthesized textures. In order to use the best performing visual attention model on textures, the performance of the most popular visual attention models to predict the visual saliency on textures is evaluated. Since there is no publicly available database with ground-truth saliency maps on images with exclusive texture content, a new eye-tracking database is systematically built. Using the Visual Saliency Map (VSM) generated by the best visual attention model, the proposed texture regularity metric is computed. The proposed metric is based on the observation that VSM characteristics differ between textures of differing regularity. The proposed texture regularity metric is based on two texture regularity scores, namely a textural similarity score and a spatial distribution score. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed regularity metric, a texture regularity database called RegTEX, is built as a part of this work. It is shown through subjective testing that the proposed metric has a strong correlation with the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) for the perceived regularity of textures. The proposed method is also shown to be robust to geometric and photometric transformations and outperforms some of the popular texture regularity metrics in predicting the perceived regularity. The impact of the proposed metric to improve the performance of many image-processing applications is also presented. The influence of the perceived texture regularity on the perceptual quality of synthesized textures is demonstrated through building a synthesized textures database named SynTEX. It is shown through subjective testing that textures with different degrees of perceived regularities exhibit different degrees of vulnerability to artifacts resulting from different texture synthesis approaches. This work also proposes an algorithm for adaptively selecting the appropriate texture synthesis method based on the perceived regularity of the original texture. A reduced-reference texture quality metric for texture synthesis is also proposed as part of this work. The metric is based on the change in perceived regularity and the change in perceived granularity between the original and the synthesized textures. The perceived granularity is quantified through a new granularity metric that is proposed in this work. It is shown through subjective testing that the proposed quality metric, using just 2 parameters, has a strong correlation with the MOS for the fidelity of synthesized textures and outperforms the state-of-the-art full-reference quality metrics on 3 different texture databases. Finally, the ability of the proposed regularity metric in predicting the perceived degradation of textures due to compression and blur artifacts is also established.Dissertation/ThesisPh.D. Electrical Engineering 201