41586583
3D Articulated Object Understanding, Learning, and Recognition from 2D Images
This paper is aimed at 3D object understanding from 2D images, including articulated objects in active vision environment, using interactive, and internet virtual reality techniques. Generally speaking, an articulated object can be divided into two portions: main rigid portion and articulated portion. It is more complicated that "rigid" object in that the relative positions, shapes or angles between the main portion and the articulated portion have essentially infinite variations, in addition to the infinite variations of each individual rigid portions due to orientations, rotations and topological transformations. A new method generalized from linear combination is employed to investigate such problems. It uses very few learning samples, and can describe, understand, and recognize 3D articulated objects while the objects status is being changed in an active vision environment.
207116582
A Thinning Algorithm Based on the Force Between Charged Particles
A new thinning algorithm based on the well known concept of the force of attraction or repulsion between charged particles is presented. This algorithm generates connected skeletons which preserve the shape and end-points of the original patterns. Its performance is experimentally compared with four other known algorithms published in the literature. For the sake of comparison, a reasoned set of test data is introduced. The results of our comparison reveal that the proposed CPM (Charge Particle Method) algorithm is almost as fast as the fastest of those compared. For thin images obtainable from low resolution scanners or coarse scanned images, the CPM algorithm is the fastest.
15652869
Detection of courtesy amount block on bank checks
This paper discusses a technique for locating the courtesy amount block on bank checks. In the analysis and recognition process, connected components in the image are identified first. Then, strings are constructed on the basis of proximity and horizontal alignment of characters. Next, a set of rules and heuristics are applied to these strings to choose the correct one. The chosen string is only accepted if it passes a verification test, which includes an attempt to recognize the currency sign. A deterministic finite automaton system is then used for segmenting the handprinted courtesy amount. Finally, the separated components are passed on to a neural network based recognition system.
2857808
A knowledge-based segmentation algorithm for enhanced recognition of handwritten courtesy amounts
Abstract A knowledge-based segmentation algorithm to enhance recognition of courtesy amounts on bank checks is proposed in this paper. This algorithm uses multiple contextual cues to enhance segmentation and recognition. The system described extracts context from the handwritten numerals and uses a syntax parser based on a deterministic finite automaton to provide adequate feedback to enhance recognition. Further feedback is provided by a simple legal amount decoder that determines word count and recognizes several key words (e.g. thousand and hundred). This provides an additional semantic constraint on the dollar section. The segmentation analysis module presented is capable of handling a number of commonly used styles for courtesy amount representation. Both handwritten and machine written courtesy and legal amounts were utilized to test the efficacy of the preprocessor for the check recognition system described in this paper. The substitution error was reduced by 30–40% depending on the input check mix.
16442037
Handwritten Bank Check Recognition Of Courtesy Amounts
In spite of rapid evolution of electronic techniques, a number of large-scale applications continue to rely on the use of paper as the dominant medium. This is especially true for processing of bank checks. This paper examines the issue of reading the numerical amount field. In the case of checks, the segmentation of unconstrained strings into individual digits is a challenging task because of connected and overlapping digits, broken digits, and digits that are physically connected to pieces of strokes from neighboring digits. The proposed architecture involves four stages: segmentation of the string into individual digits, normalization, recognition of each character using a neural network classifier, and syntactic verification. Overall, this paper highlights the importance of employing a hybrid architecture that incorporates multiple approaches to provide high recognition rates.
31996759
Analysis and Design of Parallel Thinning Algorithms - A Generic Approach
In this paper, a generic approach for the analysis and design of parallel thinning algorithms is presented. The procedures for designing 4-subcycle/iteration, 2-subcycle/iteration, and 1-subcycle/iteration thinning algorithms are developed. The experimental results show that these thinning algorithms designed by proposed approach preserve image connectivity, produce thinner results, and obtain faster speed than many existing key thinning algorithms. As an example, a 1-subcycle/iteration algorithm and its experimental results were illustrated, which is in general about two times faster than others in the literature.
28206858
Tennis Video Analysis Based on Transformed Motion Vectors
Motion Vectors (MV) indicate the motion characteristics between two video frames, and has been widely used in the content-based sports video analysis. Previous works on sports video analysis have proved the effectiveness and efficiency of the MV-based methods. However, in the tennis video, the MV-based methods are seldom applied because the motion represented by MV is greatly deformed relative to the player’s true movement due to the camera’s diagonal shooting. In this paper, an algorithm of MV transformation is proposed to revise the deformed MV using a pinhole camera model. With the transformed MVs, we generate the temporal feature curves and employ Hidden Markov Models to classify two types of player’s basic actions. Evaluation on four hours live tennis videos shows very encouraging results.
8410122
On connectivity of reconfigurable impact networks in ageless aerospace vehicles
The research results presented in this paper were obtained as part of the joint CSIRO-NASA Ageless Aerospace Vehicle (AAV) project. We describe the underlying principles, methodology, and preliminary results of modelling and simulating a multi-cellular sensor and communication network in a dynamic decentralised setting, motivated by a self-monitoring, self-repairing AAV. Such networks are expected to detect and react to multiple impacts and damage over a wide range of impact energies. In particular, we address the problem of forming a reconfigurable network (a minimum spanning tree) connecting cells that detected non-critical impacts, in presence of connectivity disruptions caused by critical impacts. The presented algorithm is based on the ant colony metaphor and may be complemented by gradient-based techniques. In addition, we measure the robustness of impact networks and present quantitative metrics that clearly identify phase transitions in network connectivity, separating chaotic dynamics from ordered and robust patterns. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
10740837
A logic of categorization
The reasoning system known as NARS constitutes a model of categorization. NARS is designed to be an adaptive system that works under the constraint of insufficient knowledge and resources. It consists of a categorical language, an experience-grounded semantics, a set of syllogistic inference rules, a dynamic memory structure, and a control mechanism that manages asynchronized parallel inference. In the system, reasoning and categorization are two aspects of the same underlying process. As a model of categorization, NARS unifies several existing theories.
15025660
On Convergence of Dynamic Cluster Formation in Multi-agent Networks
Efficient hierarchical architectures for reconfigurable and adaptive multi-agent networks require dynamic cluster formation among the set of nodes (agents). In the absence of centralised controllers, this process can be described as self-organisation of dynamic hierarchies, with multiple cluster-heads emerging as a result of inter-agent communications. Decentralised clustering algorithms deployed in multi-agent networks are hard to evaluate precisely for the reason of the diminished predictability brought about by self-organisation. In particular, it is hard to predict when the cluster formation will converge to a stable configuration. This paper proposes and experimentally evaluates a predictor for the convergence time of cluster formation, based on a regularity of the inter-agent communication space as the underlying parameter. The results indicate that the generalised “correlation entropy” K2 (a lower bound of Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy) of the volume of the inter-agent communications can be correlated with the time of cluster formation, and can be used as its predictor.
14807870
Modeling and Predicting Face Recognition System Performance Based on Analysis of Similarity Scores
This paper presents methods of modeling and predicting face recognition (FR) system performance based on analysis of similarity scores. We define the performance of an FR system as its recognition accuracy, and consider the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting its performance. The intrinsic factors of an FR system include the gallery images, the FR algorithm, and the tuning parameters. The extrinsic factors include mainly query image conditions. For performance modeling, we propose the concept of "perfect recognition", based on which a performance metric is extracted from perfect recognition similarity scores (PRSS) to relate the performance of an FR system to its intrinsic factors. The PRSS performance metric allows tuning FR algorithm parameters offline for near optimal performance. In addition, the performance metric extracted from query images is used to adjust face alignment parameters online for improved performance. For online prediction of the performance of an FR system on query images, features are extracted from the actual recognition similarity scores and their corresponding PRSS. Using such features, we can predict online if an individual query image can be correctly matched by the FR system, based on which we can reduce the incorrect match rates. Experimental results demonstrate that the performance of an FR system can be significantly improved using the presented methods