Deep features fusion for KCF-based moving object tracking

Abstract

Real-time object tracking and occlusion handling are critical research areas in computer vision and machine learning. Developing an efficient and accurate object-tracking method that can operate in real-time while handling occlusion is essential for various applications, including surveillance, autonomous driving, and robotics. However, relying solely on a single hand-crafted feature results in less robust tracking. As a hand-crafted feature extraction technique, HOG effectively detects edges and contours, which is essential in localizing objects in images. However, it does not capture fine details in object appearance and is sensitive to changes in lighting conditions. On the other hand, the grayscale feature has computational efficiency and robustness to changes in lighting conditions. The deep feature can extract features that express the image in more detail and discriminate between different objects. By fusing different features, the tracking method can overcome the limitations of individual features and capture a complete representation of the object. The deep features can be generated with transfer learning networks. However, selecting the right network is difficult, even in real-time applications. This study integrated the deep feature architecture and hand-crafted features HOG and grayscale in the KCF method to solve this problem. The object images were obtained through at least three convolution blocks of transfer learning architecture, such as Xception, DenseNet, VGG16, and MobileNet. Once the deep feature was extracted, the HOG and grayscale features were computed and combined into a single stack. In the KCF method, the stacked features acquired the actual object location by conveying a maximum response. The result shows that this proposed method, especially in the combination of Xception, grayscale, and HOG features, can be implemented in real-time applications with a small center location error.