32 research outputs found
Extracting structured information from 2D images
Convolutional neural networks can handle an impressive array of supervised learning tasks while relying on a single backbone architecture, suggesting that one solution fits all vision problems. But for many tasks, we can directly make use of the problem structure within neural networks to deliver more accurate predictions. In this thesis, we propose novel deep learning components that exploit the structured output space of an increasingly complex set of problems. We start from Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in natural scenes and leverage the constraints imposed by a spatial outline of letters and language requirements. Conventional OCR systems do not work well in natural scenes due to distortions, blur, or letter variability. We introduce a new attention-based model, equipped with extra information about the neuron positions to guide its focus across characters sequentially. It beats the previous state-of-the-art benchmark by a significant margin. We then turn to dense labeling tasks employing encoder-decoder architectures. We start with an experimental study that documents the drastic impact that decoder design can have on task performance. Rather than optimizing one decoder per task separately, we propose new robust layers for the upsampling of high-dimensional encodings. We show that these better suit the structured per pixel output across the board of all tasks. Finally, we turn to the problem of urban scene understanding. There is an elaborate structure in both the input space (multi-view recordings, aerial and street-view scenes) and the output space (multiple fine-grained attributes for holistic building understanding). We design new models that benefit from a relatively simple cuboidal-like geometry of buildings to create a single unified representation from multiple views. To benchmark our model, we build a new multi-view large-scale dataset of buildings images and fine-grained attributes and show systematic improvements when compared to a broad range of strong CNN-based baselines
Single View Modeling and View Synthesis
This thesis develops new algorithms to produce 3D content from a single camera. Today, amateurs can use hand-held camcorders to capture and display the 3D world in 2D, using mature technologies. However, there is always a strong desire to record and re-explore the 3D world in 3D. To achieve this goal, current approaches usually make use of a camera array, which suffers from tedious setup and calibration processes, as well as lack of portability, limiting its application to lab experiments.
In this thesis, I try to produce the 3D contents using a single camera, making it as simple as shooting pictures. It requires a new front end capturing device rather than a regular camcorder, as well as more sophisticated algorithms. First, in order to capture the highly detailed object surfaces, I designed and developed a depth camera based on a novel technique called light fall-off stereo (LFS). The LFS depth camera outputs color+depth image sequences and achieves 30 fps, which is necessary for capturing dynamic scenes. Based on the output color+depth images, I developed a new approach that builds 3D models of dynamic and deformable objects. While the camera can only capture part of a whole object at any instance, partial surfaces are assembled together to form a complete 3D model by a novel warping algorithm.
Inspired by the success of single view 3D modeling, I extended my exploration into 2D-3D video conversion that does not utilize a depth camera. I developed a semi-automatic system that converts monocular videos into stereoscopic videos, via view synthesis. It combines motion analysis with user interaction, aiming to transfer as much depth inferring work from the user to the computer. I developed two new methods that analyze the optical flow in order to provide additional qualitative depth constraints. The automatically extracted depth information is presented in the user interface to assist with user labeling work.
In this thesis, I developed new algorithms to produce 3D contents from a single camera. Depending on the input data, my algorithm can build high fidelity 3D models for dynamic and deformable objects if depth maps are provided. Otherwise, it can turn the video clips into stereoscopic video
Visual Prototyping of Cloth
Realistic visualization of cloth has many applications in computer graphics. An ongoing research problem is how to best represent and capture appearance models of cloth, especially when considering computer aided design of cloth. Previous methods can be used to produce highly realistic images, however, possibilities for cloth-editing are either restricted or require the measurement of large material databases to capture all variations of cloth samples. We propose a pipeline for designing the appearance of cloth directly based on those elements that can be changed within the production process. These are optical properties of fibers, geometrical properties of yarns and compositional elements such as weave patterns. We introduce a geometric yarn model, integrating state-of-the-art textile research. We further present an approach to reverse engineer cloth and estimate parameters for a procedural cloth model from single images. This includes the automatic estimation of yarn paths, yarn widths, their variation and a weave pattern. We demonstrate that we are able to match the appearance of original cloth samples in an input photograph for several examples. Parameters of our model are fully editable, enabling intuitive appearance design. Unfortunately, such explicit fiber-based models can only be used to render small cloth samples, due to large storage requirements. Recently, bidirectional texture functions (BTFs) have become popular for efficient photo-realistic rendering of materials. We present a rendering approach combining the strength of a procedural model of micro-geometry with the efficiency of BTFs. We propose a method for the computation of synthetic BTFs using Monte Carlo path tracing of micro-geometry. We observe that BTFs usually consist of many similar apparent bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (ABRDFs). By exploiting structural self-similarity, we can reduce rendering times by one order of magnitude. This is done in a process we call non-local image reconstruction, which has been inspired by non-local means filtering. Our results indicate that synthesizing BTFs is highly practical and may currently only take a few minutes for small BTFs. We finally propose a novel and general approach to physically accurate rendering of large cloth samples. By using a statistical volumetric model, approximating the distribution of yarn fibers, a prohibitively costly, explicit geometric representation is avoided. As a result, accurate rendering of even large pieces of fabrics becomes practical without sacrificing much generality compared to fiber-based techniques
A Comprehensive Survey on Test-Time Adaptation under Distribution Shifts
Machine learning methods strive to acquire a robust model during training
that can generalize well to test samples, even under distribution shifts.
However, these methods often suffer from a performance drop due to unknown test
distributions. Test-time adaptation (TTA), an emerging paradigm, has the
potential to adapt a pre-trained model to unlabeled data during testing, before
making predictions. Recent progress in this paradigm highlights the significant
benefits of utilizing unlabeled data for training self-adapted models prior to
inference. In this survey, we divide TTA into several distinct categories,
namely, test-time (source-free) domain adaptation, test-time batch adaptation,
online test-time adaptation, and test-time prior adaptation. For each category,
we provide a comprehensive taxonomy of advanced algorithms, followed by a
discussion of different learning scenarios. Furthermore, we analyze relevant
applications of TTA and discuss open challenges and promising areas for future
research. A comprehensive list of TTA methods can be found at
\url{https://github.com/tim-learn/awesome-test-time-adaptation}.Comment: Discussions, comments, and questions are all welcomed in
\url{https://github.com/tim-learn/awesome-test-time-adaptation
Understanding Video Transformers for Segmentation: A Survey of Application and Interpretability
Video segmentation encompasses a wide range of categories of problem
formulation, e.g., object, scene, actor-action and multimodal video
segmentation, for delineating task-specific scene components with pixel-level
masks. Recently, approaches in this research area shifted from concentrating on
ConvNet-based to transformer-based models. In addition, various
interpretability approaches have appeared for transformer models and video
temporal dynamics, motivated by the growing interest in basic scientific
understanding, model diagnostics and societal implications of real-world
deployment. Previous surveys mainly focused on ConvNet models on a subset of
video segmentation tasks or transformers for classification tasks. Moreover,
component-wise discussion of transformer-based video segmentation models has
not yet received due focus. In addition, previous reviews of interpretability
methods focused on transformers for classification, while analysis of video
temporal dynamics modelling capabilities of video models received less
attention. In this survey, we address the above with a thorough discussion of
various categories of video segmentation, a component-wise discussion of the
state-of-the-art transformer-based models, and a review of related
interpretability methods. We first present an introduction to the different
video segmentation task categories, their objectives, specific challenges and
benchmark datasets. Next, we provide a component-wise review of recent
transformer-based models and document the state of the art on different video
segmentation tasks. Subsequently, we discuss post-hoc and ante-hoc
interpretability methods for transformer models and interpretability methods
for understanding the role of the temporal dimension in video models. Finally,
we conclude our discussion with future research directions
Data efficient deep learning for medical image analysis: A survey
The rapid evolution of deep learning has significantly advanced the field of
medical image analysis. However, despite these achievements, the further
enhancement of deep learning models for medical image analysis faces a
significant challenge due to the scarcity of large, well-annotated datasets. To
address this issue, recent years have witnessed a growing emphasis on the
development of data-efficient deep learning methods. This paper conducts a
thorough review of data-efficient deep learning methods for medical image
analysis. To this end, we categorize these methods based on the level of
supervision they rely on, encompassing categories such as no supervision,
inexact supervision, incomplete supervision, inaccurate supervision, and only
limited supervision. We further divide these categories into finer
subcategories. For example, we categorize inexact supervision into multiple
instance learning and learning with weak annotations. Similarly, we categorize
incomplete supervision into semi-supervised learning, active learning, and
domain-adaptive learning and so on. Furthermore, we systematically summarize
commonly used datasets for data efficient deep learning in medical image
analysis and investigate future research directions to conclude this survey.Comment: Under Revie