Abstract:

This paper describes an experimental study of the use of thermal infrared (8-12um)imaging applied to the problem of pedestrian tracking. Generally it was found that infrared images enable better image segmentation, but their tracking performance with current algorithms is poorer. Simple fusion of both types of images has produced some improvement in the segmentation step of the tracking algorithms. In addition to the specific experimental results, this paper also provides a useful set of practical factors that need to be taken into account when using thermal infrared imaging for surveillance applications under real-world conditions.