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December 15, 2006
Gait Analysis
From Newswise PR:
This is a PR on gait analysis research, something that hasn't really been covered here. Its based on research by Rama Chellappa, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maryland. He is also combining his gait technology with facial recognition techniques. Here is a snippet:
When a person’s limbs are unencumbered, gait movements are symmetrical. Represented graphically, these movements form a twisted helical pattern resembling a “figure 8” called a double helical signature. Chellappa and his team call this pattern, which is slightly different in each individual, "human gait DNA." An individual’s gait pattern is changed by any activity that changes the symmetry of the movements, such as carrying a package. By defining these signatures, the system can recognize unique patterns in human gait and automatically detect asymmetric movements like an individual walking with a hidden object tied to an ankle or wrist. Hidden objects secured to the body in ways that don’t affect movement symmetry, for example, a fanny pack that is belted around the waist, aren’t currently detected by this technology.
Chellappa and his team have integrated human gait DNA into a real-time video surveillance system and used it to study and locate pedestrians. The experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the system under lighting changes, shadows, camera motion, various viewing angles, as well as significant obstacles in the cameras’ viewing angles. The results also indicate that the approach is superior to many existing methods in terms of accuracy and reliability.
His research team is also “teaching” their gait recognition system to identify individuals by their unique gait. This is a much more difficult task, since subjects may deliberately attempt to walk in an uncharacteristic manner in order to try and cheat the system and avoid detection. If the suspect is unaware of the surveillance system, their normal walking style is more easily identified.
Posted by rshah at December 15, 2006 06:36 AM
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