Detecting moving objects

The detection of moving objects is important in many tasks. This paper examines moving object detection based primarily on optical flow. We conclude that in realistic situations, detection using visual information alone is quite difficult, particularly when the camera may also be moving. The availability of additional information about camera motion and/or scene structure greatly simplifies the problem. Two general classes of techniques are examined. The first is based upon the motion epipolar constraint—translational motion produces a flow field radially expanding from a “focus of expansion” (FOE). Epipolar methods depend on knowing at least partial information about camera translation and/or rotation. The second class of methods is based on comparison of observed optical flow with other information about depth, for example from stereo vision. Examples of several of these techniques are presented.