Method of Tracking Objects in a Video Sequence
First Claim
1. A method of tracking objects in a video sequence comprising a plurality of frames, the method comprising:
- (a) receiving a first frame including a plurality of candidate objects and identifying therein first and second candidate objects whose respective frame positions are within a predetermined distance of each other;
(b) providing first and second appearance models representative of the respective first and second candidate objects;
(c) receiving a second, subsequent, frame including one or more new candidate objects and identifying therefrom a group candidate object resulting from the merging of the first and second candidate objects identified in (a); and
(d) identifying, using the first and second appearance models, regions of the group candidate object which respectively correspond to the first and second candidate objects.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A video surveillance system (10) comprises a camera (25), a personal computer (PC) (27) and a video monitor (29). Video processing software is provided on the hard disk drive of the PC (27). The software is arranged to perform a number of processing operations on video data received from the camera, the video data representing individual frames of captured video. In particular, the software is arranged to identify one or more foreground blobs in a current frame, to match the or each blob with an object identified in one or more previous frames, and to track the motion of the or each object as more frames are received. In order to maintain the identity of objects during an occlusion event, an appearance model is generated for blobs that are close to one another in terms of image position. Once occlusion takes place, the respective appearance models are used to segment the resulting group blob into regions which are classified as representing one or other of the merged objects.
242 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method of tracking objects in a video sequence comprising a plurality of frames, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving a first frame including a plurality of candidate objects and identifying therein first and second candidate objects whose respective frame positions are within a predetermined distance of each other; (b) providing first and second appearance models representative of the respective first and second candidate objects; (c) receiving a second, subsequent, frame including one or more new candidate objects and identifying therefrom a group candidate object resulting from the merging of the first and second candidate objects identified in (a); and (d) identifying, using the first and second appearance models, regions of the group candidate object which respectively correspond to the first and second candidate objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15)
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13. A method of tracking objects in a video sequence comprising a plurality of frames, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving a first frame including a plurality of candidate objects and identifying therefrom at least two candidate objects whose respective frame positions are within a predetermined distance of one another; (b) providing an appearance model for each candidate object identified in step (a), the appearance model representing the distribution of appearance features within the respective candidate object; (c) receiving a second, subsequent, frame and identifying therein a group candidate object resulting from the merging of said at least two candidate objects; (d) segmenting said group candidate object into regions corresponding to said at least two candidate objects based on analysis of their respective appearance models and an appearance model representative of the group candidate object; and (e) assigning a separate tracking identity to each region of the group candidate object.
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14. A method of tracking objects in a video sequence comprising a plurality of frames, the method comprising:
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(a) in a first frame, identifying a plurality of candidate objects and identifying therein first and second candidate objects whose respective frame positions are within a predetermined distance of each other; (b) providing first and second appearance models representing the distribution of appearance features within the respective first and second candidate objects; (c) in a second frame, identifying a group candidate object resulting from the merging of the first and second candidate objects identified in (a); and (d) classifying the group candidate into regions corresponding to the first and second candidate objects based on analysis of their respective appearance models.
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16. An image processing system comprising:
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means arranged to receive image data representing frames of an image sequence; data processing means arranged to; (i) identify, in a first frame, first and second candidate objects whose respective frame positions are within a predetermined distance of each other; (ii) provide first and second appearance models representing the distribution of appearance features within the respective first and second candidate objects; (iii) identify, in a second frame, a group candidate object resulting from the merging of the first and second candidate objects identified in (i); and (iv) classify the group candidate into regions corresponding to the first and second candidate objects based on analysis of their respective appearance models. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification