A Photogrammetric Approach for Real-time 3D Localization and Tracking of Pedestrians in Monocular Infrared Imagery

Kundegorski, M.E.; Breckon, T.P.

Abstract

Target tracking within conventional video imagery poses a significant challenge that is increasingly being addressed via complex algorithmic solutions. The complexity of this problem can be fundamentally attributed to the ambiguity associated with actual 3D scene position of a given tracked object in relation to its observed position in 2D image space. We propose an approach that challenges the current trend in complex tracking solutions by addressing this fundamental ambiguity head-on. In contrast to prior work in the field, we leverage the key advantages of thermal-band infrared (IR) imagery for the pedestrian localization to show that robust localization and foreground target separation, afforded via such imagery, facilities accurate 3D position estimation to within the error bounds of conventional Global Position System (GPS) positioning. This work investigates the accuracy of classical photogrammetry, within the context of current target detection and classification techniques, as a means of recovering the true 3D position of pedestrian targets within the scene. Based on photogrammetric estimation of target position, we then illustrate the efficiency of regular Kalman filter based tracking operating on actual 3D pedestrian scene trajectories. We present both a statistical and experimental analysis of the associated errors of this approach in addition to real-time 3D pedestrian tracking using monocular infrared (IR) imagery from a thermal-band camera. © (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation

Kundegorski, M., & Breckon, T. (2014, October). A Photogrammetric Approach for Real-time 3D Localization and Tracking of Pedestrians in Monocular Infrared Imagery. Presented at Proc. SPIE Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism, Crime Fighting and Defence

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: Proc. SPIE Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism, Crime Fighting and Defence
• Publication Date: 2014
• Deposit Date: Dec 9, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 3, 2015
• Volume: 9253
• Pages: 1-16
• Series Title: Proceedings of SPIE
• Series Number: 9253
• Series ISSN: 0277-786X,1996-756X
• Book Title: Proc. SPIE Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism, Crime Fighting and Defence
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2065673
• Keywords: thermal people detection, infrared, tracking, photogrammetry, 3D tracking
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1153709
• Publisher URL: https://breckon.org/toby/publications/papers/kundegorski14photogrammetric.pdf
• Related Public URLs: http://www.durham.ac.uk/toby.breckon/publications/papers/kundegorski14photogrammetric.pdf