Improved detection and quantisation of keypoints in the complex wavelet domain
Creators: name: Gale, Timothy Edward
Publisher: name: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Year: 2018
Subjects: Complex wavelets
Computer vision
Signal processing
Random forests
Keypoints
DTCWT

description: An algorithm which is able to consistently identify features in an image is a basic building block of many object recognition systems. Attaining sufficient consistency is challenging, because factors such as pose and lighting can dramatically change a feature’s appearance. Effective feature identification therefore requires both a reliable and accurate keypoint detector and a discriminative categoriser (or quantiser). The Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DTCWT) decomposes an image into oriented subbands at a range of scales. The resulting domain is arguably well suited for further image analysis tasks such as feature identification. This thesis develops feature identification in the complex wavelet domain, building on previous keypoint detection work and exploring the use of random forests for descriptor quantisation. Firstly, we extended earlier work on keypoint detection energy functions. Existing complex wavelet based detectors were observed to suffer from two defects: a tendency to produce keypoints on straight edges at particular orientations and sensitivity to small translations of the image. We introduced a new corner energy function based on the Same Level Product (SLP) transform. This function performed well compared to previous ones, combining competitive edge rejection and positional stability properties. Secondly, we investigated the effect of changing the resolution at which the energy function is sampled. We used the undecimated DTCWT to calculate energy maps at the same resolution as the original images. This revealed the presence of fine details which could not be accurately interpolated from an energy map at the standard resolution. As a result, doubling the resolution of the map along each axis significantly improved both the reliability and posi-tional accuracy of detections. However, calculating the map using interpolated coefficients resulted in artefacts introduced by inaccuracies in the interpolation. We therefore proposed a modification to the standard DTCWT structure which doubles its output resolution for a modest computational cost. Thirdly, we developed a random forest based quantiser which operates on complex wavelet polar matching descriptors, with optional rotational invariance. Trees were evaluated on the basis of how consistently they quantised features into the same bins, and several examples of each feature were obtained by means of tracking. We found that the trees produced the most consistent quantisations when they were trained with a second set of tracked keypoints. Detecting keypoints using the the higher resolution energy maps also resulted in more consistent quantiser outputs, indicating the importance of the choice of detector on quantiser performance. Finally, we introduced a fast implementation of the DTCWT, keypoint detection and descriptor extraction algorithms for OpenCL-capable GPUs. Several aspects were optimised to enable it to run more efficiently on modern hardware, allowing it to process HD footage in faster than real time. This particularly aided the development of the detector algorithms by permitting interactive exploration of their failure modes using a live camera feed.
description: Funded by EPSRC studentship.