Restoration of Vertical Line Scratches with a Distributed Genetic Algorithm

This contribution approaches the problem of scratch restoration in old movies as a optimisation's problem. The functional based on the statistical properties of the image around the scratch is optimised using an ad-hoc genetic algorithm. Given the large amount of the computational time needed by genetic algorithms, a network of standard workstations with heterogeneous operating systems has been used. Each workstation in the network works on each scratch to perform the restoration, and a specific machine works as root node with the task of distributing jobs on the network and adding the outputted restored scratches back into the image.

A system for the automatic measurement of the nuchal translucency thickness from ultrasound video stream of the foetus

Nowadays the measurement of the nuchal translucency thickness is being used as part of routine ultrasound scanning during the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, for the screening of chromosomal defects, as trisomy 21. Currently, the measurement is being performed manually by physicians. The measurement can take a long time for being accomplished, needs to be performed by highly skilled operators, and is prone to errors. Semi-automated methods requires that the user manually selects a region of the image containing the nuchal translucency, procedure that is somewhat time consuming. In this paper we present a complete system prototype that is able to perform the measurement of the nucha…

A distributed genetic algorithm for restoration of vertical line scratches

This paper reports a distributed algorithm for the restoration of still frames corrupted by vertical line scratches. The restoration is here approached as an optimisation problem, and is solved using an ad-hoc Genetic Algorithm. The distributed algorithm is designed following a pipeline logical structure. The front end is a network of standard workstations with heterogeneous operating systems. The quality of image is appreciable and the computational time is quite low with respect the sequential version.

Visual dynamic environment for distributed systems

Algorithms, based on information fusion, are often embodied in visual perception systems. Distributed architectures have been recently proposed to perform integrated computation. The complexity of distributed systems regards both their design, and the software environment to develop applications. Visual and iconic programming style intends to provide expressive tools to implement, to debug, and to execute programs in distributed environment. Multi-layers graphs languages seem suitable to handle such complexity. This paper describes the design of a visual dynamic environment (VDE), which is based on a graph-grammar. A new class of dynamic visual interfaces is also introduced, and its propert…

A low level image analysis approach to starfish detection

Dynamic interface for machine vision systems

Iconic programming intends to provide expressive tools to implement, to debug, and to execute programs. For this purpose, visual languages need pictorial constructs and metaphors to guide the design of algorithms in interactive fashion. In the paper a new class of dynamic visual interfaces, named DIVA (Dynamic Interface for Visual Applications), is introduced, its properties are described, and an application to visual compilers in a multi-processors system dedicated to image analysis is given. Moreover, a formal definition of dynamic icon (DI) is also given.

Combining fuzzy C-mean and normalized convolution for cloud detection in IR images

An important task for the cloud monitoring in several frameworks is providing maps of the cloud coverage. In this paper we present a method to detect cloudy pixels for images taken from ground by an infra-red camera. The method is a three-steps algorithm mainly based on a Fuzzy C-Mean clustering, that works on a feature space derived from the original image and the output of the reconstructed image obtained via normalized convolution. Experiments, run on several infra-red images acquired under different conditions, show that the cloud maps returned are satisfactory. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Comparison of stereo vision techniques for cloud-top height retrieval

This paper presents an ongoing study for the estimation of the cloud-top height by using only geometrical methods. In agreement with some recent studies showing that it is possible to achieve reliable height estimations not only with the classical methods based on radiative transfer, this article includes a comparison of performances of a selected set of vision algorithms devoted to extract dense disparity maps or motion fields from Infra Red stereo image pairs. This collection includes both area-based techniques and an optical flow-based method and the comparison is accomplished by using a set of cloudy scenes selected from the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR2) database. The first gr…

Stereo Matching Tecniques for Cloud-top Height Retrieval

This paper presents an ongoing study for the estimation of the cloud-top height by using only geometrical methods. It is based on the hypothesis that an infra-red camera is on board a satellite and pairs of images concern nearly the same scene. Stereo-vision techniques are therefore explored in order to test the methodology for height retrieval and in particular results of several techniques of stereo matching are evaluated. This study includes area-based matching algorithms by implementing the basic versions, without considering any further steps of optimisation to improve the results. Dense depth maps are the final outputs whose reliability is verified by computing error statistics with r…

A Study for Cloud Parameter Retrieval from the IR Cloud Cameras of the AUGER Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory operative in Argentina, studies the ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 1018eV. The atmosphere is also monitored by a collection of different instruments. In this paper we present a study on the retrieval of the cloud coverage from the atmospheric monitoring data collected by the four IR cloud cameras placed in the sites of the Observatory. We discuss two different algorithms that supply pixel by pixel cloudiness information in the form of binary masks. The final objective of the study is collecting different algorithms to obtain a reliable set that allow to overcome most of the more frequent ambiguities due to particular cloud configurations and a…

Silhouette encoding and synthesis using elliptic Fourier descriptors, and applications to videoconferencing

Abstract This paper investigates the use of elliptic Fourier descriptors as a shape descriptor for encoding the silhouette of a person. Shape descriptors are here used for predicting the shape of silhouettes in missing frames within a sequence. This prediction scheme is applied to the case of generating in-between images in a low frame rate videoconferencing system, where the reconstructed silhouette is used as a binary mask for reducing the computational time for the frame reconstruction.

A study on recovering the cloud top-height from infra-red video sequences

In this paper we present some preliminary results on an opticalfow based technique aimed at recovering the cloud-top height from infra-red image sequences. The recovery of the cloud-top height from satellite infra-red images is an important topic in meteorological studies, and is traditionally based on the analysis of the temperature maps. In this work we explore the feasibility for this problem of a technique based on a robust multi-resolution opticalfow algorithm. The robustness is achieved adopting a Least Median of Squares paradigm. The algorithm has been tested on semi-synthetic data (i.e. real data that have been synthetically warped in order to have a reliable ground truth for the mo…

Scratch detection and removal from static images using simple statistics and genetic algorithms

This paper investigates the removal of line scratches from old movies and gives a twofold contribution. First, it presents simple technique for detecting the scratches, based on an analysis of the statistics of the grey levels. Second, the scratch removal is approached as an optimisation problem, and it is solved by using a genetic algorithm. The method can be classified as a static approach, as it works independently on each single frame of the sequence. It does not require any a-priori knowledge of the absolute position of the scratch, nor an external starting population of chromosomes for the genetic algorithm. The central column of the line scratch once detected is changed with a conven…

Finding essential features for tracking starfish in a video sequence

The paper introduces a software system for detecting and tracking starfish in an underwater video sequence. The target of such a system is to help biologists in giving an estimate of the number of starfish present in a particular area of the sea-bottom. The nature of the input images is characterised by a low signal/noise ratio and by the presence of noisy background represented by pebbles; this makes the detection a non-trivial task. The procedure we use is a chain of several steps that starts from the extraction of the area of interest and ends with a classifier and a tracker providing the necessary information for counting the starfish present in the scene. © 2003 IEEE.

Removal of streaking artefact in the images of the Pierre Auger Observatory infra-red cameras

In this paper the problem of removing concentric semi-circular stripe artefacts induced by the operating hardware of the infra red cameras of the Pierre Auger Observatory, is tackled. The method builds on top of a recent algorithm for the removal of artefacts, which presents a robust filter, obtained as a combination of Wavelet and Fourier analysis, capable of eliminating horizontal and vertical stripes in images, while trying to preserve structural features and quantitative values of the image. The method requires several parameters which have been tuned by an exhaustive test on a large set of images. The results show that the method is capable to satisfactorily remove the stripe artefacts.

A genetic algorithm for scratch removal in static images

This paper investigates the removal of line scratches from old moving pictures and gives a twofold contribution. First, it presents a simple technique for detecting the scratches, based on an analysis of the statistics of the grey levels. Second, the scratch removal is approached as an optimisation problem, which is solved by using a genetic algorithm. The method can be classified as a static approach, as it works independently on each single frame of the sequence. It does not require any a-priori knowledge of the absolute position of the scratch, nor an external starting population of chromosomes for the genetic algorithm. The central column of the line scratch once detected is changed wit…