Human pose classification within the context of near-IR imagery tracking

Abstract

We address the challenge of human behaviour analysis within automated image understanding. Whilst prior work concentrates on this task within visible-band (EO) imagery, by contrast we target basic human pose classification in thermal-band (infrared, IR) imagery. By leveraging the key advantages of limb localization this imagery offers we target two distinct human pose classification problems of varying complexity: 1) identifying passive or active individuals within the scene and 2) the identification of individuals potentially carrying weapons. Both approaches use a discrete set of features capturing body pose characteristics from which a range of machine learning techniques are then employed for final classification. Significant success is shown on these challenging tasks over a wide range of environmental conditions within the wider context of automated human target tracking in thermal-band (IR) imagery.