Occlusion and split detection and correction for object tracking in surveillance applications

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel algorithm for the real-time detection and correction of occlusion and split in feature-based tracking of objects for surveillance applications. The proposed algorithm detects sudden variations of spatio-temporal features of objects in order to identify possible occlusion or split events. The detection is followed by a validation stage that uses past tracking information to prevent false detection of occlusion or split. Special care is taken in case of heavy occlusion, when there is a large superposition of objects. In this case the system relies on long-term temporal behavior of objects to avoid updating the video object features with unreliable (e.g. shape and motion) information. Occlusion is corrected by separating occluded objects. For the detection of splits, in addition to the analysis of spatio-temporal changes in objects features, our algorithm analyzes the temporal behavior of split objects to discriminate between errors in segmentation and real separation of objects, such as in the deposit of an object. Split is corrected by physically merging the objects detected to be split. To validate the proposed approach, objective and visual results are presented. Experimental results show the ability of the proposed algorithm to detect and correct, both, split and occlusion of objects. The proposed algorithm is most suitable in video surveillance applications due to: its good performance in multiple, heavy, and total occlusion; its distinction between real object separation and faulty object split; its handling of simultaneous occlusion and split events; and its low computational complexity.