In this paper we show that a classic optical ow technique by Nagel and Enkelmann (1986) can be regarded as an early anisotropic diusion method with a diusion tensor. We introduce three improvements into the model formulation that (i) avoid inconsistencies caused by centering the brightness term and the smoothness term in dierent images, (ii) use a linear scale-space focusing strategy from coarse to ne scales for avoiding convergence to physically irrelevant local minima, and (iii) create an energy functional that is invariant under linear brightness changes. Applying a gradient descent method to the resulting energy functional leads to a system of diusion{reaction equations. We prove that this system has a unique solution under realistic assumptions on the initial data, and we present an ecient linear implicit numerical scheme in detail. Our method creates ow elds with 100 % density over the entire image domain, it is robust under a large range of parameter variations, and it c...

. This paper gives an overview of scale-space and image enhancement techniques which are based on parabolic partial differential equations in divergence form. In the nonlinear setting this filter class allows to integrate a-priori knowledge into the evolution. We sketch basic ideas behind the different filter models, discuss their theoretical foundations and scale-space properties, discrete aspects, suitable algorithms, generalizations, and applications. 1 Introduction During the last decade nonlinear diffusion filters have become a powerful and well-founded tool in multiscale image analysis. These models allow to include a-priori knowledge into the scale-space evolution, and they lead to an image simplification which simultaneously preserves or even enhances semantically important information such as edges, lines, or flow-like structures. Many papers have appeared proposing different models, investigating their theoretical foundations, and describing interesting applications. For a n...

The completion of interrupted lines or the enhancement of flow-like structures is a challenging task in computer vision, human vision, and image processing. We address this problem by presenting a multiscale method in which a nonlinear diffusion filter is steered by the so-called interest operator (second-moment matrix, structure tensor). An m-dimensional formulation of this method is analysed with respect to its well-posedness and scale-space properties. An efficient scheme is presented which uses a stabilization by a semi-implicit additive operator splitting (AOS), and the scale-space behaviour of this method is illustrated by applying it to both 2-D and 3-D images.

We present an energy based approach to estimate a dense disparity map between two images while preserving its discontinuities resulting from image boundaries. We first derive a simplied expression for the disparity that allows us to easily estimate it from a stereo pair of images using an energy minimization approach. We assume that the epipolar geometry is known, and we include this information in the energy model. Discontinuities are preserved by means of a regularization term based on the Nagel-Enkelmann operator. We investigate the associated Euler-Lagrange equation of the energy functional, and we approach the solution of the underlying partial differential equation (PDE) using a gradient descent method. In order to reduce the risk to be trapped within some irrelevant local minima during the iterations, we use a focusing strategy based on a linear scale-space. We prove the existence and uniqueness of the underlying parabolic partial differential equation. Experimental results on bot...

Recent improvements in the capabilities of complementarity solvers have led to an increased interest in using the complementarity problem framework to address practical problems arising in mathematical programming, economics, engineering, and the sciences. As a result, increasingly more difficult problems are being proposed that exceed the capabilities of even the best algorithms currently available. There is, therefore, an immediate need to improve the capabilities of complementarity solvers. This thesis addresses this need in two significant ways. First, the thesis proposes and develops a proximal perturbation strategy that enhances the robustness of Newton-based complementarity solvers. This strategy enables algorithms to reliably find solutions even for problems whose natural merit functions have strict local minima that are not solutions. Based upon this strategy, three new algorithms are proposed for solving nonlinear mixed complementarity problems that represent a significant improvement in robustness over previous algorithms. These algorithms have local Q-quadratic convergence behavior, yet depend only on a pseudo-monotonicity assumption to achieve global convergence from arbitrary starting points. Using the MCPLIB and GAMSLIB test libraries, we perform extensive computational tests that demonstrate the effectiveness of these algorithms on realistic problems. Second, the thesis extends some previously existing algorithms to solve more general problem classes. Specifically, the NE/SQP method of Pang & Gabriel (1993), the semismooth equations approach of De Luca, Facchinei & Kanz...

This article deals with the problem of restoring and motion segmenting noisy image sequences with a static background. Usually, motion segmentation and image restoration are considered separately in image sequence restoration. Moreover, motion segmentation is often noise sensitive. In this article, the motion segmentation and the image restoration parts are performed in a coupled way, allowing the motion segmentation part to positively influence the restoration part and vice-versa. This is the key of our approach that allows to deal simultaneously with the problem of restoration and motion segmentation. To this end, we propose a theoretically justified optimization problem that permits to take into account both requirements. The model is theoretically justified. Existence and unicity are proved in the space of bounded variations. A suitable numerical scheme based on half quadratic minimization is then proposed and its convergence and stability demonstrated. Experimental results obtaine...

Defined as the apparent motion in a sequence of images, the optical flow is very important in the Computer Vision community where its accurate estimation is strongly needed for many applications. It is one of the most studied problem in Computer Vision. In spite of this, not much theoretical analysis has been done. In this article, we first present a review of existing variational methods. Then, we will propose an extended model that will be rigorously justified on the space of functions of bounded variations. Finally, we present an algorithm whose convergence will be carefully demonstrated. Some results showing the capabilities of this method will end that work.

The goal of this paper is to present a unified description of diffusion and regularization techniques for vector-valued as well as matrix-valued data fields. In the vector-valued setting, we first review a number of existing methods and classify them into linear and nonlinear as well as isotropic and anisotropic methods. For these approaches we present corresponding regularization methods. This taxonomy is applied to the design of regularization methods for variational motion analysis in image sequences. Our vector-valued framework is then extended to the smoothing of positive semidefinite matrix fields. In this context a novel class of anisotropic di usion and regularization methods is derived and it is shown that suitable algorithmic realizations preserve the positive semidefiniteness of the matrix field without any additional constraints. As an application, we present an anisotropic nonlinear structure tensor and illustrate its advantages over the linear structure tensor.

We consider a wide class of iterative methods arising in numerical mathematics and optimization which are known to converge only weakly. Exploiting an idea originally proposed by Haugazeau, we present a simple modification of these methods which makes them strongly convergent without additional assumptions. Several applications are discussed. AMS 1991 subject classification. Primary: 65J15, 47N10; secondary 41A29, 47H05, 47H09, 65K10, 90C25. Key words. Convex feasibility, Fej'er-monotonicity, firmly nonexpansive mapping, fixed point, Haugazeau, maximal monotone operator, projection, proximal point algorithm, resolvent, subgradient algorithm. 1 Introduction Let H be a real Hilbert space with scalar product h\Delta j \Deltai, norm k \Delta k, and distance d. In 1965, Bregman [5] proposed a simple iterative method for finding a common point of m intersecting closed convex sets (S i ) 1im in H. He showed that, given an arbitrary starting point x 0 2 H, the sequence (x n ) n0 gene...

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