Tracking while zooming using affine transfer and multifocal tensors

This paper presents algorithms for tracking unknown objects in the presence of zoom. Since prior models are unavailable, point and line matches in affine views are used to characterize the structure and to transfer a fixation point into new images in a sequence. Because any affine projection matrix is permitted, the intrinsic camera parameters such as focal length may change freely. Also, since the techniques do not require long feature tracks, a further desirable property is insensitivity to partial occlusion caused, for instance, by part of the object falling off the image plane while zooming in. If only point matches are available, a previous method based on factorization is applied. When also incorporating lines, the affine trifocal and quadrifocal tensors are used for tracking in monocular and stereo systems respectively. Methods for computing the tensors, minimizing algebraic error, are developed. In comparison with their projective counterparts, the affine tensors offer significant advantages in terms of computation time and convenience of parameterization, and the relations between the different tensors are shown to be much simpler. Successful tracking is demonstrated on several real image sequences

Long Range Automated Persistent Surveillance

This dissertation addresses long range automated persistent surveillance with focus on three topics: sensor planning, size preserving tracking, and high magnification imaging. field of view should be reserved so that camera handoff can be executed successfully before the object of interest becomes unidentifiable or untraceable. We design a sensor planning algorithm that not only maximizes coverage but also ensures uniform and sufficient overlapped camera’s field of view for an optimal handoff success rate. This algorithm works for environments with multiple dynamic targets using different types of cameras. Significantly improved handoff success rates are illustrated via experiments using floor plans of various scales. Size preserving tracking automatically adjusts the camera’s zoom for a consistent view of the object of interest. Target scale estimation is carried out based on the paraperspective projection model which compensates for the center offset and considers system latency and tracking errors. A computationally efficient foreground segmentation strategy, 3D affine shapes, is proposed. The 3D affine shapes feature direct and real-time implementation and improved flexibility in accommodating the target’s 3D motion, including off-plane rotations. The effectiveness of the scale estimation and foreground segmentation algorithms is validated via both offline and real-time tracking of pedestrians at various resolution levels. Face image quality assessment and enhancement compensate for the performance degradations in face recognition rates caused by high system magnifications and long observation distances. A class of adaptive sharpness measures is proposed to evaluate and predict this degradation. A wavelet based enhancement algorithm with automated frame selection is developed and proves efficient by a considerably elevated face recognition rate for severely blurred long range face images