Learning Robust and Discriminative Manifold Representations for Pattern Recognition

Face and object recognition find applications in domains such as biometrics, surveillance and human computer interaction. An important component in any recognition pipeline is to learn pertinent image representations that will help the system to discriminate one image class from another. These representations enable the system to learn a discriminative function that can classify a wide range of images. In practical situations, the images acquired are often corrupted with occlusions and noise. Thus, a robust and discriminative learning is necessary for good classification performance. This thesis explores two scenarios where robust and discriminative manifold representations help recognize face and object images. On one hand learning robust manifold projections enables the system to adapt to images across different domains including cases with noise and occlusions. And on the other hand learning discriminative manifold representations aid in image set comparison. The first contribution of this thesis is a robust approach to visual domain adaptation by learning a subspace with L1 principal component analysis (PCA) and L1 Grassmannian with applications to object and face recognition. Mapping data from different domains on a low dimensional subspace through PCA is a common step in subspace based unsupervised domain adaptation. Subspaces extracted by PCA are prone to be affected by outliers that lead to noisy projections. A robust subspace learning through L1-PCA helps in improving performance. The proposed approach was tested on the office, Caltech - 256, Yale-A and AT&T datasets. Results indicate the improvement of classification accuracy for face and object recognition task. The second contribution of this thesis is a biologically motivated manifold learning framework for image set classification by independent component analysis (ICA) for Grassmann manifolds. It has been discovered that the simple cells in the visual cortex learn spatially localized image representations. Similar representations can be learnt using ICA. Motivated by the manifold hypothesis, a Grassmann manifold is learnt using the independent components which enables compact representation through linear subspaces. The efficacy of the proposed approach is demonstrated for image set classification on face and object recognition datasets such as AT&T, extended Yale, labelled faces in the wild and ETH - 80

Bandpass filters for unconstrained target recognition and their implementation in coherent optical correlators

An up-dateable correlator is simulated which is based on the non-degenerate four wave mixing (NDFWM) interaction in the photorefractive material bismuth silicon oxide (Bi12SiO20). Specifically, it is shown that variable bandpass filters can be implemented directly in the correlator by adjusting the relative strengths of the signal and reference beams used to write the Fourier transform hologram into the photorefractive. The synthetic discriminant function (SDF) method of grey-level multiplexing is reviewed. A bandpass modification of this technique is used in the design of a multiplexed filter for the recognition of an industrial test component from a limited number of known stable state orientations when viewed from an overhead camera position. Its performance in this task when implemented in the up-dateable correlator is assessed through simulation. The conclusion of this work is that filter multiplexing must be used judiciously for orientation invariant recognition. Only a limited number of images, typically under ten, may be multiplexed into each filter since correlation peak heights and peak-to-sidelobe ratios inevitably progressively deteriorate as images are added to the filter. The effect of severe amplitude disruptions in the frequency plane on correlation peak localisation is examined. In two or higher dimensions simulations show the localisation is very robust to this disruption; an analysis is developed to indicate the reason for this. The effect is exploited by the implementation of an algorithm that locally removes the spatial frequencies that exhibit close phase matching between intra- and inter-class images. The inter-class response can be forced to zero while simultaneously improving the intra-class tolerance to orientation changes. The technique is assessed through simulation with images of two types of motor vehicle, in a variety of orientations, and shown to be effective in improving discrimination and intra-class tolerance for examples in which these were initially very poor. Bandpass filters are experimentally implemented in a joint transform correlator (JTC) based on a NDFWM interaction in Bi12SiO20. The JTC is described and its full bandwidth performance initially assessed. As anticipated from the previous considerations, inter-class discrimination was high but the intra-class tolerance very poor due to the high sensitivity of the filter. The difference of Gaussian approximation to a Laplacian of a Gaussian filter is described and its experimental implementation in the JTC detailed. Experimental results are presented for the orientation independent recognition of a car while maintaining discrimination against another car. An intra-class to inter-class correlation ratio of 7.5 dB was obtained as a best case and 3.6 dB as a worst case, the intra-class variation being at 11 ° increments in orientation at zero elevation angle. The results are extrapolated to estimate that approximately 80 filters would be required for a full 2 steradian orientation coverage. The implementation of the frequency removal technique and the Wiener filter in the JTC is briefly considered in conclusion to this work

Robust Image Recognition Based on a New Supervised Kernel Subspace Learning Method

Fecha de lectura de Tesis Doctoral: 13 de septiembre 2019Image recognition is a term for computer technologies that can recognize certain people, objects or other targeted subjects through the use of algorithms and machine learning concepts. Face recognition is one of the most popular techniques to achieve the goal of figuring out the identity of a person. This study has been conducted to develop a new non-linear subspace learning method named “supervised kernel locality-based discriminant neighborhood embedding,” which performs data classification by learning an optimum embedded subspace from a principal high dimensional space. In this approach, not only is a nonlinear and complex variation of face images effectively represented using nonlinear kernel mapping, but local structure information of data from the same class and discriminant information from distinct classes are also simultaneously preserved to further improve final classification performance. Moreover, to evaluate the robustness of the proposed method, it was compared with several well-known pattern recognition methods through comprehensive experiments with six publicly accessible datasets. In this research, we particularly focus on face recognition however, two other types of databases rather than face databases are also applied to well investigate the implementation of our algorithm. Experimental results reveal that our method consistently outperforms its competitors across a wide range of dimensionality on all the datasets. SKLDNE method has reached 100 percent of recognition rate for Tn=17 on the Sheffield, 9 on the Yale, 8 on the ORL, 7 on the Finger vein and 11on the Finger Knuckle respectively, while the results are much lower for other methods. This demonstrates the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method

Towards On-line Domain-Independent Big Data Learning: Novel Theories and Applications

Feature extraction is an extremely important pre-processing step to pattern recognition, and machine learning problems. This thesis highlights how one can best extract features from the data in an exhaustively online and purely adaptive manner. The solution to this problem is given for both labeled and unlabeled datasets, by presenting a number of novel on-line learning approaches. Specifically, the differential equation method for solving the generalized eigenvalue problem is used to derive a number of novel machine learning and feature extraction algorithms. The incremental eigen-solution method is used to derive a novel incremental extension of linear discriminant analysis (LDA). Further the proposed incremental version is combined with extreme learning machine (ELM) in which the ELM is used as a preprocessor before learning. In this first key contribution, the dynamic random expansion characteristic of ELM is combined with the proposed incremental LDA technique, and shown to offer a significant improvement in maximizing the discrimination between points in two different classes, while minimizing the distance within each class, in comparison with other standard state-of-the-art incremental and batch techniques. In the second contribution, the differential equation method for solving the generalized eigenvalue problem is used to derive a novel state-of-the-art purely incremental version of slow feature analysis (SLA) algorithm, termed the generalized eigenvalue based slow feature analysis (GENEIGSFA) technique. Further the time series expansion of echo state network (ESN) and radial basis functions (EBF) are used as a pre-processor before learning. In addition, the higher order derivatives are used as a smoothing constraint in the output signal. Finally, an online extension of the generalized eigenvalue problem, derived from James Stone’s criterion, is tested, evaluated and compared with the standard batch version of the slow feature analysis technique, to demonstrate its comparative effectiveness. In the third contribution, light-weight extensions of the statistical technique known as canonical correlation analysis (CCA) for both twinned and multiple data streams, are derived by using the same existing method of solving the generalized eigenvalue problem. Further the proposed method is enhanced by maximizing the covariance between data streams while simultaneously maximizing the rate of change of variances within each data stream. A recurrent set of connections used by ESN are used as a pre-processor between the inputs and the canonical projections in order to capture shared temporal information in two or more data streams. A solution to the problem of identifying a low dimensional manifold on a high dimensional dataspace is then presented in an incremental and adaptive manner. Finally, an online locally optimized extension of Laplacian Eigenmaps is derived termed the generalized incremental laplacian eigenmaps technique (GENILE). Apart from exploiting the benefit of the incremental nature of the proposed manifold based dimensionality reduction technique, most of the time the projections produced by this method are shown to produce a better classification accuracy in comparison with standard batch versions of these techniques - on both artificial and real datasets

Robust Face Recognition based on Color and Depth Information

One of the most important advantages of automatic human face recognition is its nonintrusiveness property. Face images can sometime be acquired without user's knowledge or explicit cooperation. However, face images acquired in an uncontrolled environment can appear with varying imaging conditions. Traditionally, researchers focus on tackling this problem using 2D gray-scale images due to the wide availability of 2D cameras and the low processing and storage cost of gray-scale data. Nevertheless, face recognition can not be performed reliably with 2D gray-scale data due to insu_cient information and its high sensitivity to pose, expression and illumination variations. Recent rapid development in hardware makes acquisition and processing of color and 3D data feasible. This thesis aims to improve face recognition accuracy and robustness using color and 3D information.In terms of color information usage, this thesis proposes several improvements over existing approaches. Firstly, the Block-wise Discriminant Color Space is proposed, which learns the discriminative color space based on local patches of a human face image instead of the holistic image, as human faces display different colors in different parts. Secondly, observing that most of the existing color spaces consist of at most three color components, while complementary information can be found in multiple color components across multiple color spaces and therefore the Multiple Color Fusion model is proposed to search and utilize multiple color components effectively. Lastly, two robust color face recognition algorithms are proposed. The Color Sparse Coding method can deal with face images with noise and occlusion. The Multi-linear Color Tensor Discriminant method harnesses multi-linear technique to handle non-linear data. Experiments show that all the proposed methods outperform their existing competitors.In terms of 3D information utilization, this thesis investigates the feasibility of face recognition using Kinect. Unlike traditional 3D scanners which are too slow in speed and too expensive in cost for broad face recognition applications, Kinect trades data quality for high speed and low cost. An algorithm is proposed to show that Kinect data can be used for face recognition despite its noisy nature. In order to fully utilize Kinect data, a more sophisticated RGB-D face recognition algorithm is developed which harnesses theColor Sparse Coding framework and 3D information to perform accurate face recognition robustly even under simultaneous varying conditions of poses, illuminations, expressionsand disguises

Topological Comparison of Some Dimension Reduction Methods Using Persistent Homology on EEG Data

In this paper, we explore how to use topological tools to compare dimension reduction methods. We first make a brief overview of some of the methods often used in dimension reduction such as isometric feature mapping, Laplacian Eigenmaps, fast independent component analysis, kernel ridge regression, and t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding. We then give a brief overview of some of the topological notions used in topological data analysis, such as barcodes, persistent homology, and Wasserstein distance. Theoretically, when these methods are applied on a data set, they can be interpreted differently. From EEG data embedded into a manifold of high dimension, we discuss these methods and we compare them across persistent homologies of dimensions 0, 1, and 2, that is, across connected components, tunnels and holes, shells around voids, or cavities. We find that from three dimension clouds of points, it is not clear how distinct from each other the methods are, but Wasserstein and Bottleneck distances, topological tests of hypothesis, and various methods show that the methods qualitatively and significantly differ across homologies. We can infer from this analysis that topological persistent homologies do change dramatically at seizure, a finding already obtained in previous analyses. This suggests that looking at changes in homology landscapes could be a predictor of seizure

A Survey of Geometric Optimization for Deep Learning: From Euclidean Space to Riemannian Manifold

Although Deep Learning (DL) has achieved success in complex Artificial Intelligence (AI) tasks, it suffers from various notorious problems (e.g., feature redundancy, and vanishing or exploding gradients), since updating parameters in Euclidean space cannot fully exploit the geometric structure of the solution space. As a promising alternative solution, Riemannian-based DL uses geometric optimization to update parameters on Riemannian manifolds and can leverage the underlying geometric information. Accordingly, this article presents a comprehensive survey of applying geometric optimization in DL. At first, this article introduces the basic procedure of the geometric optimization, including various geometric optimizers and some concepts of Riemannian manifold. Subsequently, this article investigates the application of geometric optimization in different DL networks in various AI tasks, e.g., convolution neural network, recurrent neural network, transfer learning, and optimal transport. Additionally, typical public toolboxes that implement optimization on manifold are also discussed. Finally, this article makes a performance comparison between different deep geometric optimization methods under image recognition scenarios.Comment: 41 page