Bayesian inference of models and hyper-parameters for robust optic-flow estimation

International audienceSelecting optimal models and hyper-parameters is crucial for accurate optic-flow estimation. This paper provides a solution to the problem in a generic Bayesian framework. The method is based on a conditional model linking the image intensity function, the unknown velocity field, hyper-parameters and the prior and likelihood motion models. Inference is performed on each of the three-level of this so-defined hierarchical model by maximization of marginalized \textit{a posteriori} probability distribution functions. In particular, the first level is used to achieve motion estimation in a classical a posteriori scheme. By marginalizing out the motion variable, the second level enables to infer regularization coefficients and hyper-parameters of non-Gaussian M-estimators commonly used in robust statistics. The last level of the hierarchy is used for selection of the likelihood and prior motion models conditioned to the image data. The method is evaluated on image sequences of fluid flows and from the ''Middlebury" database. Experiments prove that applying the proposed inference strategy yields better results than manually tuning smoothing parameters or discontinuity preserving cost functions of the state-of-the-art methods

Event-based Vision: A Survey

Event cameras are bio-inspired sensors that differ from conventional frame cameras: Instead of capturing images at a fixed rate, they asynchronously measure per-pixel brightness changes, and output a stream of events that encode the time, location and sign of the brightness changes. Event cameras offer attractive properties compared to traditional cameras: high temporal resolution (in the order of microseconds), very high dynamic range (140 dB vs. 60 dB), low power consumption, and high pixel bandwidth (on the order of kHz) resulting in reduced motion blur. Hence, event cameras have a large potential for robotics and computer vision in challenging scenarios for traditional cameras, such as low-latency, high speed, and high dynamic range. However, novel methods are required to process the unconventional output of these sensors in order to unlock their potential. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging field of event-based vision, with a focus on the applications and the algorithms developed to unlock the outstanding properties of event cameras. We present event cameras from their working principle, the actual sensors that are available and the tasks that they have been used for, from low-level vision (feature detection and tracking, optic flow, etc.) to high-level vision (reconstruction, segmentation, recognition). We also discuss the techniques developed to process events, including learning-based techniques, as well as specialized processors for these novel sensors, such as spiking neural networks. Additionally, we highlight the challenges that remain to be tackled and the opportunities that lie ahead in the search for a more efficient, bio-inspired way for machines to perceive and interact with the world

Power laws and inverse motion modeling: application to turbulence measurements from satellite images

International audienceIn the context of tackling the ill-posed inverse problem of motion estimation from image sequences, we propose to introduce prior knowledge on flow regularity given by turbulence statistical models. Prior regularity is formalized using turbulence power laws describing statistically self-similar structure of motion increments across scales. The motion estimation method minimizes the error of an image observation model while constraining second order structure function to behave as a power law within a prescribed range. Thanks to a Bayesian modeling framework, the motion estimation method is able to jointly infer the most likely power law directly from image data. The method is assessed on velocity fields of 2D or quasi-2D flows. Estimation accuracy is first evaluated on a synthetic image sequence of homogeneous and isotropic 2D turbulence. Results obtained with the approach based on physics of fluids outperforms state-of-the-art. Then, the method analyzes atmospheric turbulence using a real meteorological image sequence. Selecting the most likely power law model enables the recovery of physical quantities which are of major interest for turbulence atmospheric characterization. In particular, from meteorological images we are able to estimate energy and enstrophy fluxes of turbulent cascades, which are in agreement with previous in situ measurements

Signal Detection in MIMO Systems with Hardware Imperfections: Message Passing on Neural Networks

In this paper, we investigate signal detection in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems with hardware impairments, such as power amplifier nonlinearity and in-phase/quadrature imbalance. To deal with the complex combined effects of hardware imperfections, neural network (NN) techniques, in particular deep neural networks (DNNs), have been studied to directly compensate for the impact of hardware impairments. However, it is difficult to train a DNN with limited pilot signals, hindering its practical applications. In this work, we investigate how to achieve efficient Bayesian signal detection in MIMO systems with hardware imperfections. Characterizing combined hardware imperfections often leads to complicated signal models, making Bayesian signal detection challenging. To address this issue, we first train an NN to "model" the MIMO system with hardware imperfections and then perform Bayesian inference based on the trained NN. Modelling the MIMO system with NN enables the design of NN architectures based on the signal flow of the MIMO system, minimizing the number of NN layers and parameters, which is crucial to achieving efficient training with limited pilot signals. We then represent the trained NN with a factor graph, and design an efficient message passing based Bayesian signal detector, leveraging the unitary approximate message passing (UAMP) algorithm. The implementation of a turbo receiver with the proposed Bayesian detector is also investigated. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that the proposed technique delivers remarkably better performance than state-of-the-art methods

Towards PACE-CAD Systems

Despite phenomenal advancements in the availability of medical image datasets and the development of modern classification algorithms, Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) has had limited practical exposure in the real-world clinical workflow. This is primarily because of the inherently demanding and sensitive nature of medical diagnosis that can have far-reaching and serious repercussions in case of misdiagnosis. In this work, a paradigm called PACE (Pragmatic, Accurate, Confident, & Explainable) is presented as a set of some of must-have features for any CAD. Diagnosis of glaucoma using Retinal Fundus Images (RFIs) is taken as the primary use case for development of various methods that may enrich an ordinary CAD system with PACE. However, depending on specific requirements for different methods, other application areas in ophthalmology and dermatology have also been explored. Pragmatic CAD systems refer to a solution that can perform reliably in day-to-day clinical setup. In this research two, of possibly many, aspects of a pragmatic CAD are addressed. Firstly, observing that the existing medical image datasets are small and not representative of images taken in the real-world, a large RFI dataset for glaucoma detection is curated and published. Secondly, realising that a salient attribute of a reliable and pragmatic CAD is its ability to perform in a range of clinically relevant scenarios, classification of 622 unique cutaneous diseases in one of the largest publicly available datasets of skin lesions is successfully performed. Accuracy is one of the most essential metrics of any CAD system's performance. Domain knowledge relevant to three types of diseases, namely glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), and skin lesions, is industriously utilised in an attempt to improve the accuracy. For glaucoma, a two-stage framework for automatic Optic Disc (OD) localisation and glaucoma detection is developed, which marked new state-of-the-art for glaucoma detection and OD localisation. To identify DR, a model is proposed that combines coarse-grained classifiers with fine-grained classifiers and grades the disease in four stages with respect to severity. Lastly, different methods of modelling and incorporating metadata are also examined and their effect on a model's classification performance is studied. Confidence in diagnosing a disease is equally important as the diagnosis itself. One of the biggest reasons hampering the successful deployment of CAD in the real-world is that medical diagnosis cannot be readily decided based on an algorithm's output. Therefore, a hybrid CNN architecture is proposed with the convolutional feature extractor trained using point estimates and a dense classifier trained using Bayesian estimates. Evaluation on 13 publicly available datasets shows the superiority of this method in terms of classification accuracy and also provides an estimate of uncertainty for every prediction. Explainability of AI-driven algorithms has become a legal requirement after Europe’s General Data Protection Regulations came into effect. This research presents a framework for easy-to-understand textual explanations of skin lesion diagnosis. The framework is called ExAID (Explainable AI for Dermatology) and relies upon two fundamental modules. The first module uses any deep skin lesion classifier and performs detailed analysis on its latent space to map human-understandable disease-related concepts to the latent representation learnt by the deep model. The second module proposes Concept Localisation Maps, which extend Concept Activation Vectors by locating significant regions corresponding to a learned concept in the latent space of a trained image classifier. This thesis probes many viable solutions to equip a CAD system with PACE. However, it is noted that some of these methods require specific attributes in datasets and, therefore, not all methods may be applied on a single dataset. Regardless, this work anticipates that consolidating PACE into a CAD system can not only increase the confidence of medical practitioners in such tools but also serve as a stepping stone for the further development of AI-driven technologies in healthcare

Self-similar prior and wavelet bases for hidden incompressible turbulent motion

This work is concerned with the ill-posed inverse problem of estimating turbulent flows from the observation of an image sequence. From a Bayesian perspective, a divergence-free isotropic fractional Brownian motion (fBm) is chosen as a prior model for instantaneous turbulent velocity fields. This self-similar prior characterizes accurately second-order statistics of velocity fields in incompressible isotropic turbulence. Nevertheless, the associated maximum a posteriori involves a fractional Laplacian operator which is delicate to implement in practice. To deal with this issue, we propose to decompose the divergent-free fBm on well-chosen wavelet bases. As a first alternative, we propose to design wavelets as whitening filters. We show that these filters are fractional Laplacian wavelets composed with the Leray projector. As a second alternative, we use a divergence-free wavelet basis, which takes implicitly into account the incompressibility constraint arising from physics. Although the latter decomposition involves correlated wavelet coefficients, we are able to handle this dependence in practice. Based on these two wavelet decompositions, we finally provide effective and efficient algorithms to approach the maximum a posteriori. An intensive numerical evaluation proves the relevance of the proposed wavelet-based self-similar priors.Comment: SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences, 201