Real-Time Multipedestrian Tracking in Traffic Scenes via an RGB-D-Based Layered Graph Model

Multipedestrian tracking in traffic scenes is challenging due to cluttered backgrounds and serious occlusions. In this paper, we propose a layered graph model in image (RGB) and depth (D) domains for real-time robust multipedestrian tracking. The motivation is to investigate high-level constraints in RGB-D data association and to improve the optimization from the trajectory level to the layer level. To construct a layered graph, we define constraints in the depth domain so that pedestrian objects in the image domain are assigned to proper layers. We use pedestrian detection responses in the RGB domain as graph nodes, and we integrate 3-D motion, appearance, and depth features as graph edges. An online updating depth factor is defined to describe the depth relationships among the observations in and out of the layers, and the occlusion issue is processed with an analytical layer-level strategy. With a heuristic label switching algorithm, multiple pedestrian objects are optimally associated and tracked. Experiments and comparison on five public data sets show that our proposed approach significantly reduces pedestrian's ID switch and improves tracking accuracy in the cases of serious occlusions.