Online Multi-object Tracking via Structural Constraint Event Aggregation

TLDR

Multi‑object tracking is difficult when objects look alike, and while motion cues help, camera motion in online 2D tracking makes these cues unreliable. The paper proposes a data‑association method that exploits structural motion constraints to handle large camera motion. The method uses structural motion constraints and a novel event‑aggregation approach to incorporate these constraints into assignment costs, improving robustness to mis‑detections and false positives. Experiments on many datasets show that the proposed algorithm effectively handles camera motion and improves online 2D multi‑object tracking.

Abstract

Multi-object tracking (MOT) becomes more challenging when objects of interest have similar appearances. In that case, the motion cues are particularly useful for discriminating multiple objects. However, for online 2D MOT in scenes acquired from moving cameras, observable motion cues are complicated by global camera movements and thus not always smooth or predictable. To deal with such unexpected camera motion for online 2D MOT, a structural motion constraint between objects has been utilized thanks to its robustness to camera motion. In this paper, we propose a new data association method that effectively exploits structural motion constraints in the presence of large camera motion. In addition, to further improve the robustness of data association against mis-detections and false positives, a novel event aggregation approach is developed to integrate structural constraints in assignment costs for online MOT. Experimental results on a large number of datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for online 2D MOT.