5
$\begingroup$

I hate this kind of questions, but I'm really stuck. I'm trying to implement Lucas-Kanade algorithm as described in this paper (see pages 4 and 5). Unlike most explanations I've seen they don't assume optical flow, but instead use affine transformation for most examples and in general refer to warp function just as $W(x, p)$, where $x$ is the point and $p = (p_1, p_2, p_3, p_4, p_5, p_6)^T$ is parameter vector of affine transformation.

At the beginning of page 4 authors outline their version of Lucas-Kanade algorithm. I'm stuck at steps (4) and (5), namely, evaluating the Jacobian $\frac{\partial W}{\partial p}$ and calculating the steepest descent images $\nabla I\frac{\partial W}{\partial p}$.

(As far as I can understand, $\nabla I$ is just a pair of 2 matrices $(\frac{\partial I}{\partial x}, \frac{\partial I}{\partial y})$ in this context. Please, correct me if I'm wrong).

Authors carefully describe affine warp and even provide formula for its Jacobian (Equation 8):

$$\frac{\partial W}{\partial p} = \pmatrix{x & 0 & y & 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & x & 0 & y & 0 & 1}$$

However, Jacobian of the warp is (not surprisingly) defined only for a single pixel and not the entire image. But in step (5) we calculate multiplication of image gradient and this Jacobian - $\nabla I \frac{\partial W}{\partial p}$, and as far as I can see from the context (see, for example, Figure 2 on page 5), it is done for the whole image and not per pixel.

My question is, how should I interpret this multiplication and what are the real sizes/formats of $\nabla I$ and $\frac{\partial W}{\partial p}$?

I understand that this question may require reading a lot from that paper, so I will be glad to explain any point that is not clear enough. Also feel free to refine question title or contents if you have an idea of a better wording.

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

4
$\begingroup$

You're right that all the quantities are computed for a single pixel, so in the product

$$\nabla I\cdot \frac{\partial W}{\partial p}\cdot\Delta p\tag{1}$$

the sizes of the vectors and matrices are

$$\nabla I\quad\;\;\; 1\times 2\\ \frac{\partial W}{\partial p}\quad 2\times n\\ \Delta p\quad\;\;\;\; n\times 1$$

where $n$ is the number of parameters. So the expression in (1) is a scalar. The total error measure given by Equation (6) in the paper is the sum of this scalar expression over all pixels.

$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! In addition, I found their source code for that paper, where they implement it in a vectorized form, but basic operations over each pixel seem to be the same. $\endgroup$
    – ffriend
    Jun 15, 2013 at 15:10
  • $\begingroup$ I joined this community to upvote this question and this answer. However, the source code link of ri.cmu.edu/… is broken $\endgroup$ Mar 3, 2020 at 17:25
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @PrasadRaghavendra: I think this is the source code referred to in the other comment. $\endgroup$
    – Matt L.
    Mar 3, 2020 at 17:54

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.