Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors

In some automatic scene analysis applications, the presence of shadows becomes a nuisance that is necessary to deal with. As a consequence, a preliminary stage in many computer vision algorithms is to attenuate their effect. In this paper, we focus our attention on the detection of shadows cast by s...

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Main Authors: Cesar Isaza, Bogdan Raducanu, Joaquín Salas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2012-10-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/12/10/13333
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author Cesar Isaza
Bogdan Raducanu
Joaquín Salas
author_facet Cesar Isaza
Bogdan Raducanu
Joaquín Salas
author_sort Cesar Isaza
collection DOAJ
description In some automatic scene analysis applications, the presence of shadows becomes a nuisance that is necessary to deal with. As a consequence, a preliminary stage in many computer vision algorithms is to attenuate their effect. In this paper, we focus our attention on the detection of shadows cast by static objects outdoors, as the scene is viewed for extended periods of time (days, weeks) from a fixed camera and considering daylight intervals where the main source of light is the sun. In this context, we report two contributions. First, we introduce the use of synthetic images for which ground truth can be generated automatically, avoiding the tedious effort of manual annotation. Secondly, we report a novel application of the intrinsic image concept to the automatic detection of shadows cast by static objects in outdoors. We make both a quantitative and a qualitative evaluation of several algorithms based on this image representation. For the quantitative evaluation, we used the synthetic data set, while for the qualitative evaluation we used both data sets. Our experimental results show that the evaluated methods can partially solve the problem of shadow detection.
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spelling doaj.art-ad4d8b0db7dd43b2bf690311f3a374792022-12-22T02:21:33ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202012-10-011210133331334810.3390/s121013333Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects OutdoorsCesar IsazaBogdan RaducanuJoaquín SalasIn some automatic scene analysis applications, the presence of shadows becomes a nuisance that is necessary to deal with. As a consequence, a preliminary stage in many computer vision algorithms is to attenuate their effect. In this paper, we focus our attention on the detection of shadows cast by static objects outdoors, as the scene is viewed for extended periods of time (days, weeks) from a fixed camera and considering daylight intervals where the main source of light is the sun. In this context, we report two contributions. First, we introduce the use of synthetic images for which ground truth can be generated automatically, avoiding the tedious effort of manual annotation. Secondly, we report a novel application of the intrinsic image concept to the automatic detection of shadows cast by static objects in outdoors. We make both a quantitative and a qualitative evaluation of several algorithms based on this image representation. For the quantitative evaluation, we used the synthetic data set, while for the qualitative evaluation we used both data sets. Our experimental results show that the evaluated methods can partially solve the problem of shadow detection.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/12/10/13333video sequencesshadow detectionintrinsic imagesillumination component
spellingShingle Cesar Isaza
Bogdan Raducanu
Joaquín Salas
Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors
Sensors
video sequences
shadow detection
intrinsic images
illumination component
title Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors
title_full Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors
title_fullStr Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors
title_short Evaluation of Intrinsic Image Algorithms to Detect the Shadows Cast by Static Objects Outdoors
title_sort evaluation of intrinsic image algorithms to detect the shadows cast by static objects outdoors
topic video sequences
shadow detection
intrinsic images
illumination component
url http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/12/10/13333
work_keys_str_mv AT cesarisaza evaluationofintrinsicimagealgorithmstodetecttheshadowscastbystaticobjectsoutdoors
AT bogdanraducanu evaluationofintrinsicimagealgorithmstodetecttheshadowscastbystaticobjectsoutdoors
AT joaquinsalas evaluationofintrinsicimagealgorithmstodetecttheshadowscastbystaticobjectsoutdoors