Powerbook Fail
Ran both of the “new” background subtraction methods in OpenCV on the bird data. They are:
- CvGaussBGModel in cvbgfg_gaussmix.cpp from An Improved Adaptive Background Mixture Model for Real-time Tracking and Shadow Detection by P. KaewTraKulPong and R. Bowden in Proc. 2nd European Workshop on Advanced Video-Based Surveillance Systems, 2001
- CvFGDStatModel in cvbgfg_acmmm2003.cpp from Foreground Object Detection from Videos Containing Complex Background by Liyuan Li, Weimin Huang, Irene Y.H. Gu, and Qi Tian in ACM-MM 2003
Have to yet read these papers to figure out their exact methods, but will do so. There is also a variable that sets different parameters for the method, which needs further exploration. Documentation on these functions are non-existent, especially with the OpenCV wiki down, though I got the above information from a forum post.
On the default settings, GaussBGModel updates a lot slower compared to FGDStatModel. Thus GaussBGModel selects objects cleanly, but when the camera gets knocked slightly, it takes a while before the shake is accounted for in the background. It also captures the ripples and waves in the pond made by the wind and by the animals. Occasionally this is good, since a bird that appears from the water creates a wake that would otherwise make it difficult to detect.
FGDStatModel ask almost like frame differencing, in that stationary objects disappear after a couple frames, and the foreground model includes both where the object is and where it was. We hope to combine this data to get better results. The effect on ripples may still be present in this video.
One idea would be to combine these Models, or more generally combine models with different temporal relevance. This may be a good contribution.
In other news, my Powerbook is ailing. I was watching an online video, and an error appeared telling me to hard shtudown my computer. I did so, imagining it might have been too hot, but when I started it again I only got a light blue screen typical to the startup. I tried to start it in safe mode, and that also ended at the same spot. I’ll have to try to access the drive some other way. Unfortunately, my CD drive is broken and doesn’t seem to work.
