Determining Optical Flow

Berthold K.P. Horn; Brian G. Schunck

doi:10.1117/12.965761

12 November 1981 Determining Optical Flow

Berthold K.P. Horn, Brian G. Schunck

Proceedings Volume 0281, Techniques and Applications of Image Understanding; (1981) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.965761
Event: 1981 Technical Symposium East, 1981, Washington, D.C., United States

Abstract

Optical flow cannot be computed locally, since only one independent measurement is available from the image sequence at a point, while the flow velocity has two components. A second constraint is needed. A method for finding the optical flow pattern is presented which assumes that the apparent velocity of the brightness pattern varies smoothly almost everywhere in the image. An iterative implementation is shown which successfully computes the optical flow for a number of synthetic image sequences. The algorithm is robust in that it can handle image sequences that are quantized rather coarsely in space and time. It is also insensitive to quantization of brightness levels and additive noise. Examples are included where the assumption of smoothness is violated at singular points or along lines in the image.

Citation Download Citation

Berthold K.P. Horn and Brian G. Schunck "Determining Optical Flow", Proc. SPIE 0281, Techniques and Applications of Image Understanding, (12 November 1981); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.965761

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available