Robust observation model for visual tracking in particle filter

A robust observation model for visual tracking is proposed in this paper. The model consists of three appearance models: fixed appearance model, adaptive appearance model, and two-frame appearance model. The three appearance models are used, respectively, for catching unchanged components, slow changes, and rapid changes in object appearance. During tracking, the robust observation model is incorporated in a particle filter, and the particle filter can automatically select proper appearance models to track object according to the current tracking situation. Occlusion analysis is implemented using the M-estimation technique. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can track objects well under many challenging tracking situations.