Computer Vision Laboratory

The laboratory is involved in basic research in computer vision, trying to extract as much information from pictorial material as possible, with emphasis on object segmentation, recognition and tracking, face detection, face and iris recognition, panoramic imaging, texture processing, range image interpretation, real-time and multimedia applications.

Analysis and tracking of objects in video sequences is applied to studies of human locomotion, roulette gaming instruments and golf. Superquadric models are also used for object tracking in sequences of intensity images.

Biometry is an important research field for us. For human face detection and recognition in difficult illumination conditions, we study the use of skin colour and appearance and fusion of different techniques. Lately we are also interested in use of such techniques in smart advertising, digital signage. In 2008 we also implemented our first test system for iris recognition.

We generate panoramic images in different ways and for different purposes: for depth reconstruction, for mobile robot navigation, for designing efficient user interfaces, for visual surveillance applications.

Possible applications of range image interpretation include automatic creation of CAD models for reverse engineering applications, creation of models for virtual reality applications, and part-based object recognition.

Real-time quality control of products in the production line is another area of research.

An ongoing collaboration with the New media department of the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Ljubljana supports the creation of interactive art installations using the latest information technology. The art projects serve as an excellent frame for testing our research results in practical applications, in particular, we applied face detection in the installation "15 seconds of fame", body position tracking in "Virtual skiing" and locomotion-based person identification in "Coincidence-matrix-dating club" project.

Use of unconventional user interfaces based on computer vision in computer games is also of our interest. In 2008 we established a GameTeam within the laboratory with a number of student members working on projects like 3D Maze, Bubbles and Virtual Painter.

From the applicative point of view we are especially interested in biometry systems, image based computer forensic, gaming systems, quality control of products, surveillance applications and smart advertising.

More details about the research and development done in the laboratory are given in the following sections, especially in the Research Projects section and Selected Publications section.

Collaborators

Prof. Franc Solina, PhD, Head
Aleš Jaklič, PhD
Assist. Prof. Peter Peer, PhD
Lecturer Borut Batagelj, PhD
as. Luka Šajn, PhD
as. Miha Peternel, MSc
as. Tadej Zupančič
as. Bojan Klemenc
Robert Ravnik, research assistant
Andrej Ikica, MSc, research assistant
Jure Kovač, MSc, research assistant
Jernej Bule
Matic Tovšak
Rok Kreslin, undergraduate student
Assist. Prof. Narvika Bovcon, PhD

Selected References

F. Solina and R. Bajcsy. Recovery of parametric models from range images: The case for superquadrics with global deformations. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 12(2): 131–147, 1990.
A. Leonardis, A. Jaklič, and F. Solina. Superquadrics for segmentation and modeling range data. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence, 19(11): 1289–1295, November 1997.
B. Prihavec and F. Solina. User interface for video observation over the internet. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, (21): 219–237, 1998.
F. Solina and A. Leonardis, editors. Computer analysis of images and patterns: 8th international conference, CAIP’99, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 1–3, 1999: proceedings. Lecture notes in computer science, 1689. Springer, Berlin, 1999.
A. Leonardis, F. Solina and R. Bajcsy, editors. Confluence of Computer Vision and Computer Graphics, volume 84 of NATO Science Series 3. High Technology. Kluwer, Dordrecth, 2000.
A. Jaklič, A. Leonardis and F. Solina. Segmentation and Recovery of Superquadrics, volume 20 of Computational imaging and vision. Kluwer, Dordrecth, 2000.
F. Solina, S. Krapež, V. Komac, and A. Jaklič. Multimedia dictionary and synthesis of sign language. In M. Rahman Syed, editor, Design and Management of Multimedia Information Systems, pp. 268–281. Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, PA, 2001.
P. Peer and F. Solina. Panoramic depth imaging: Single standard camera approach. International Journal of Computer Vision, 47 (1/2/3): 149–160, 2002.
A. Jaklič, F. Solina. Moments of Superellipsoids and their Application to Range Image Registration. IEEE Transactions on Society, Man and Cybernetics- Part B: Cybernetics, 33(4): 648–657, 2003.
J. Krivic, F. Solina. Part-level object recognition using superquadrics. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 95(2): 105–126, 2004.
F. Solina. 15 seconds of fame. Leonardo, 37(2): 105–110+125, 2004.
L. G. Corzo, J. A. Penaranda, P. Peer. Estimation of a fluorescent lamp spectral distribution for color image in machine vision. Machine vision and application 16(5), pp. 306-311, 2005.
P. Peer, F. Solina. Where physically is the optical center? Pattern Recognition Letters 27, pp. 1117-1121, 2006.
P. Peer, L. G. Corzo. Local Pixel Value Collection Algorithm for Spot Segmentation in Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Research. Comparative and Functional Genomics 7(1), pp. 77-85, 2007.
L. Šajn, I. Kononenko. Multiresolution image parameterization for improving texture classification. EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing 2008(1):, pp. 1-12, 2008.

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Bibliography (COBISS)

Projects

Current Projects

Artificial intelligence and intelligent systems, Research Programme (P2-0209), 2004−2014
Text detection in images of natural scenes , 2009−2013
Computer Vision, Research Programme (P2-0214), 2009−2014
Fingerprints recognition system , 2011−2013
KC CLASS - Cloud Assisted Services, Structural Funds Project (3211-10-000467), 2011−2013
KC OPCOMM - Open Communication Platform for Service Integration, Structural Funds Project (3211-10-000468), 2011−2013
Gait recognition , 2011−2014

Closed Projects

Sign Language Dictionary for the Hearing Impaired, Basic Research and Application Project , 1995−2000
Lotery On-line, Industry-Funded Project (FRI), 2003−2008
XML-based data-format for image analysis results, Basic Research and Application Project (Z2-6301), 2004−2006
LEONARDO EU-NZ, European Project (Framework Programmes) (CPT-CPTNZ 1003), 2004−2008
Computer Vision, Research Programme (P2-0214), 2004−2008
Reliable and Comprehensible Machine Learning Approaches with Applications to Medical Diagnostics and Bioinformatics Bilateral, Bilateral Collaboration Project , 2005−2007
Machine Learning of Probabilities with Applications to Web Portals and Medical Diagnostics, Bilateral Collaboration Project (BI-PT/06-07-004), 2006−2008
StitchThem, Industry-Funded Project , 2008−2008
PokerTable, Industry-Funded Project , 2008−2008
Web application for managing Slovenian POIs and transfer to GPS gadget, Basic Research and Application Project , 2008−2008
Managing technical, busines and social implications of Internet of things in Slovene environment, Target Research programmes (V2-1022), 2010−2011