8965145
A robust algorithm for probabilistic human recognition from video
Human recognition from video requires solving the two tasks, recognition and tracking, simultaneously. This leads to a parameterized time series state space model, representing both motion and identity of the human. Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) algorithms, like Condensation, can be developed to offer numerical solutions to this model. However in outdoor environments, the solution is more likely to diverge from the foreground, causing failures in both recognition and tracking. In this paper we propose an approach for tackling this problem by incorporating the constraint of temporal continuity in the observations. Experimental results demonstrate improvements over its Condensation counterpart.
60706602
Multiple-exemplar discriminant analysis for face recognition
Face recognition is characteristically different from regular pattern recognition and, therefore, requires a different discriminant analysis other than linear discriminant analysis(LDA). LDA is a single-exemplar method in the sense that each class during classification is represented by a single exemplar, i.e., the sample mean of the class. We present a multiple-exemplar discriminant analysis (MEDA) where each class is represented using several exemplars or even the whole available sample set. The proposed approach produces improved classification results when tested on a subset of FERET database where LDA is ineffective.
41942332
Exemplar-Based Face Recognition from Video
A new exemplar-based probabilistic approach for face recognition in video sequences is presented. The approach has two stages: First, Exemplars, which are selected representatives from the raw video, are automatically extracted from gallery videos. The exemplars are used to summarize the gallery video information. In the second part, exemplars are then used as centers for probabilistic mixture distributions for the tracking and recognition process. A particle method is used to compute the posteriori probabilities. Probabilistic methods are attractive in this context as they allow a systematic handling of uncertainty and an elegant way for fusing temporal information.Contrary to some previous video-based approaches, our approach is not limited to a certain image representation. It rather enhances known ones, such as the PCA, with temporal fusion and uncertainty handling. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of each of the two stages. We tested this approach on more than 100 training and testing sequences, with 25 different individuals.
1717304
Shape Regression Machine
We present a machine learning approach called shape regression machine (SRM) to segmenting in real time an anatomic structure that manifests a deformable shape in a medical image. Traditional shape segmentation methods rely on various assumptions. For instance, the deformable model assumes that edge defines the shape; the Mumford-Shah variational method assumes that the regions inside/outside the (closed) contour are homogenous in intensity; and the active appearance model assumes that shape/appearance variations are linear. In addition, they all need a good initialization. In contrast, SRM poses no such restrictions. It is a two-stage approach that leverages (a) the underlying medical context that defines the anatomic structure and (b) an annotated database that exemplifies the shape and appearance variations of the anatomy. In the first stage, it solves the initialization problem as object detection and derives a regression solution that needs just one scan in principle. In the second stage, it learns a nonlinear regressor that predicts the nonrigid shape from image appearance. We also propose a boosting regression approach that supports real time segmentation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of SRM using experiments on segmenting the left ventricle endocardium from an echocardiogram of an apical four chamber view.
8505547
Face recognition from video: a CONDENSATION approach
The aim of this work is to investigate how to exploit the temporal information in a video sequence for the task of face recognition. Following the approach in (Li and Chellappa, 2000), we propose a probabilistic model parameterized by a tracking state vector and a recognizing identity variable, simultaneously characterizing the kinematics and identity of humans. We then invoke a CONDENSATION (Isard and Blake, 1996) approach to provide a numerical solution to the model. Once the joint posterior distribution of the state vector and the identity variable is estimated, we marginalize it over the state vector to yield a robust estimate of the posterior distribution of the identity variable. Due to the propagation of identity and dynamics, a degeneracy in the posterior distribution of the identity variable is achieved to give improved recognition. This evolving behavior is characterized using changes in entropy. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated using experimental results on low-resolution video data.
15470334
Probabilistic recognition of human faces from video
Recognition of human faces using a gallery of still or video images and a probe set of videos is systematically investigated using a probabilistic framework. In still-to-video recognition, where the gallery consists of still images, a time series state space model is proposed to fuse temporal information in a probe video, which simultaneously characterizes the kinematics and identity using a motion vector and an identity variable, respectively. The joint posterior distribution of the motion vector and the identity variable is estimated at each time instant and then propagated to the next time instant, Marginalization over the motion vector yields a robust estimate of the posterior distribution of the identity variable. A computationally efficient sequential importance sampling (SIS) algorithm is developed to estimate the posterior distribution. Empirical results demonstrate that, due to the propagation of the identity variable over time, a degeneracy in posterior probability of the identity variable is achieved to give improved recognition. The gallery is generalized to videos in order to realize video-to-video recognition. An exemplar-based learning strategy is adopted to automatically select video representatives from the gallery, serving as mixture centers in an updated likelihood measure. The SIS algorithm is applied to approximate the posterior distribution of the motion vector, the identity variable, and the exemplar index, whose marginal distribution of the identity variable produces the recognition result. The model formulation is very general and it allows a variety of image representations and transformations. Experimental results using images/videos collected at UMD, NIST/USF, and CMU with pose/illumination variations illustrate the effectiveness of this approach for both still-to-video and video-to-video scenarios with appropriate model choices.
6042519
Imprimitive symmetric graphs, 3-arc graphs and 1-designs
Let Γ be a G-symmetric graph admitting a nontrivial G-invariant partition B. For B ∈ B, let D(B)=(B,ΓB(B),I) be the 1-design in which αIC for α ∈ B and C ∈ ΓR(B) if and only if α is adjacent to at least one vertex of C, where ΓB(B) is the neighbourhood of B in the quotient graph ΓB of Γ relative to B. In a natural way the setwise stabilizer GB of B in G induces a group of automorphisms of D(B). In this paper, we study those graphs Γ such that the actions of GB on B and ΓB(B) are permutationally equivalent, that is, there exists a bijection ρ :B → ΓB(B) such that ρ(αx) = (ρ(α))x for α ∈ B and x ∈ GB. In this case the vertices of Γ can be labelled naturally by the arcs of B. By using this labelling technique we analyse ΓB, D(B) and the bipartite subgraph Γ[B, C] induced by adjacent blocks B, C of B, and study the influence of them on the structure of Γ. We prove that the class of such graphs Γ is precisely the class of those graphs obtained from G-symmetric graphs Σ and self-paired G-orbits on 3-arcs of Σ by a construction introduced in a recent paper of Li, Praeger and the author, and that Γ can be reconstructed from ΓB via this construction.
25346055
Almost Covers Of 2-Arc Transitive Graphs
Let Γ be a G-symmetric graph whose vertex set admits a nontrivial G-invariant partition ℬ with block size v. Let Γℬ be the quotient graph of Γ relative to ℬ and Γ[B,C] the bipartite subgraph of Γ induced by adjacent blocks B,C of ℬ. In this paper we study such graphs for which Γℬ is connected, (G, 2)-arc transitive and is almost covered by Γ in the sense that Γ[B,C] is a matching of v-1 ≥ 2 edges. Such graphs arose as a natural extremal case in a previous study by the author with Li and Praeger. The case Γℬ ≅Kv+1 is covered by results of Gardiner and Praeger. We consider here the general case where Γℬ ≇Kv+1, and prove that, for some even integer n ≥ 4, Γℬ is a near n-gonal graph with respect to a certain G-orbit on n-cycles of Γℬ. Moreover, we prove that every (G, 2)-arc transitive near n-gonal graph with respect to a G-orbit on n-cycles arises as a quotient Γℬ of a graph with these properties. (A near n-gonal graph is a connected graph Σ of girth at least 4 together with a set ℰ of n-cycles of Σ such that each 2-arc of Σ is contained in a unique member of ℰ.)
34996713
Polynomial Time Solvability Of The Weighted Ring Arc-Loading Problem With Integer Splitting
In the Weighted Ring Arc-Loading Problem with Integer Splitting, we are given a set of communication requests each associated with a non-negative integer weight. The problem is to find a routing scheme such that the maximum load on arcs of the ring is minimized, subject to that the weight of each request may be split into two integral parts routed in two directions around the ring, where the load of an arc is the sum of parts routed through the arc. A pseudo-polynomial algorithm for this problem is implied by a result in [G. Wilfong and P. Winkler, Ring routing and wavelength translation, Proceedings of the 9th ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms, San Fancisco, CA, 1998, 333-341]. By refining the rounding technique developed in the same paper, we prove that the problem can be solved in polynomial time.
10758103
Accurately modeling the Internet topology
Based on measurements of the internet topology data, we found that there are two mechanisms which are necessary for the correct modeling of the internet topology at the autonomous systems (AS) level: the interactive growth of new nodes and new internal links, and a nonlinear preferential attachment, where the preference probability is described by a positive-feedback mechanism. Based on the above mechanisms, we introduce the positive-feedback preference (PFP) model which accurately reproduces many topological properties of the AS-level internet, including degree distribution, rich-club connectivity, the maximum degree, shortest path length, short cycles, disassortative mixing, and betweenness centrality. The PFP model is a phenomenological model which provides an insight into the evolutionary dynamics of real complex networks.
815725
Virtual Execution Environments: Support and Tools
In today's dynamic computing environments, the available resources and even underlying computation engine can change during the execution of a program. Additionally, current trends in software development favor the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of dynamically loaded components and libraries. Because of these trends, there has been increased research interest in virtual execution environments (VEEs) for delivering adaptable software suitable for today's rapidly changing, heterogeneous computing environments. In this project, we have been investigating tools and techniques to support implementation of VEEs using software dynamic translation (SDT). This paper highlights some of our recent results. One significant result is that we have developed novel translation techniques that reduce the memory and runtime overhead of SDT to negligible levels. We have also developed innovative debugging and instrumentation tools for SDT-based software environments. Together, these results make SDT-based systems viable for solving a wide range of pressing problems. The paper concludes with a discussion of how SDT may offer a solution to one such problem-inherent process variation in emerging chip multiprocessors.