Coalitional Tracking in Facial Infrared Imaging and Beyond

We propose a novel facial tracking method that uses a distributed network of individual trackers whose interactions are modeled using coalitional game theory. Our tracking method maintains a high level of accuracy and can negotiate surface deformations and occlusions. We tested the method on a substantial video set featuring non-trivial face motion from over 40 subjects in both the infrared and visual spectra. The coalitional tracker demonstrated fault tolerant behavior that exceeds by far the performance of single condensation trackers. Our method represents a shift from the typical tracking paradigms and may find broader application in demanding imaging problems across the electromagnetic spectrum.