Avinash Sharma

Bio: Avinash Sharma is an academic researcher from International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. The author has contributed to research in topics: Computer science & Graph (abstract data type). The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 59 publications receiving 480 citations. Previous affiliations of Avinash Sharma include French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation & Xerox.

Topologically-robust 3D shape matching based on diffusion geometry and seed growing

Abstract: 3D Shape matching is an important problem in computer vision. One of the major difficulties in finding dense correspondences between 3D shapes is related to the topological discrepancies that often arise due to complex kinematic motions. In this paper we propose a shape matching method that is robust to such changes in topology. The algorithm starts from a sparse set of seed matches and outputs dense matching. We propose to use a shape descriptor based on properties of the heat-kernel and which provides an intrinsic scale-space representation. This descriptor incorporates (i) heat-flow from already matched points and (ii) self diffusion. At small scales the descriptor behaves locally and hence it is robust to global changes in topology. Therefore, it can be used to build a vertex-to-vertex matching score conditioned by an initial correspondence set. This score is then used to iteratively add new correspondences based on a novel seed-growing method that iteratively propagates the seed correspondences to nearby vertices. The matching is farther densified via an EM-like method that explores the congruency between the two shape embeddings. Our method is compared with two recently proposed algorithms and we show that we can deal with substantial topological differences between the two shapes.

Inexact Matching of Large and Sparse Graphs Using Laplacian Eigenvectors

Abstract: In this paper we propose an inexact spectral matching algorithm that embeds large graphs on a low-dimensional isometric space spanned by a set of eigenvectors of the graph Laplacian. Given two sets of eigenvectors that correspond to the smallest non-null eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrices of two graphs, we project each graph onto its eigenenvectors. We estimate the histograms of these one-dimensional graph projections (eigenvector histograms) and we show that these histograms are well suited for selecting a subset of significant eigenvectors, for ordering them, for solving the sign-ambiguity of eigenvector computation, and for aligning two embeddings. This results in an inexact graph matching solution that can be improved using a rigid point registration algorithm. We apply the proposed methodology to match surfaces represented by meshes.

SHREC 2010: robust correspondence benchmark

Abstract: SHREC’10 robust correspondence benchmark simulates a one-to-one shape matching scenario, in which one of the shapes undergoes multiple modifications and transformations. The benchmark allows evaluating how correspondence algorithms cope with certain classes of transformations and what is the strength of the transformations that can be dealt with. The present paper is a report of the SHREC’10 robust correspondence benchmark results.

Shape matching based on diffusion embedding and on mutual isometric consistency

Abstract: In this paper we address the problem of matching two 3D shapes by representing them using the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the discrete diffusion operator. This provides representation framework useful for scale-space local shape descriptors and shape comparisons. We formally introduce diffusion embedding and we propose unit hypersphere normalizations of this embedding. We also propose a method to find compatible time scale while matching two different shapes with varying size and sampling. We propose a practical algorithm that seeks the largest set of mutually consistent point-to-point matches between two shapes based on isometric consistency between the two embedded shapes. We illustrate our method with several examples of matching shapes at various scales.

Action Quality Assessment Using Siamese Network-Based Deep Metric Learning

Abstract: Automated vision-based score estimation models can be used to provide an alternate opinion to avoid judgment bias. Existing works have learned score estimation models by regressing the video representation to ground truth score provided by judges. However, such regression-based solutions lack interpretability in terms of giving reasons for the awarded score. One solution to make the scores more explicable is to compare the given action video with a reference video, which would capture the temporal variations vis-a-vis the reference video and map those variations to the final score. In this work, we propose a new action scoring system termed as Reference Guided Regression (RGR) , which comprises (1) a Deep Metric Learning Module that learns similarity between any two action videos based on their ground truth scores given by the judges, and (2) a Score Estimation Module that uses the first module to find the resemblance of a video with a reference video to give the assessment score. The proposed scoring model is tested for Olympics Diving and Gymnastic vaults and the model outperforms the existing state-of-the-art scoring models.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

Abstract: Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

SeqSLAM : visual route-based navigation for sunny summer days and stormy winter nights

Abstract: Learning and then recognizing a route, whether travelled during the day or at night, in clear or inclement weather, and in summer or winter is a challenging task for state of the art algorithms in computer vision and robotics. In this paper, we present a new approach to visual navigation under changing conditions dubbed SeqSLAM. Instead of calculating the single location most likely given a current image, our approach calculates the best candidate matching location within every local navigation sequence. Localization is then achieved by recognizing coherent sequences of these “local best matches”. This approach removes the need for global matching performance by the vision front-end - instead it must only pick the best match within any short sequence of images. The approach is applicable over environment changes that render traditional feature-based techniques ineffective. Using two car-mounted camera datasets we demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm and compare it to one of the most successful feature-based SLAM algorithms, FAB-MAP. The perceptual change in the datasets is extreme; repeated traverses through environments during the day and then in the middle of the night, at times separated by months or years and in opposite seasons, and in clear weather and extremely heavy rain. While the feature-based method fails, the sequence-based algorithm is able to match trajectory segments at 100% precision with recall rates of up to 60%.

FAUST: Dataset and Evaluation for 3D Mesh Registration

Abstract: New scanning technologies are increasing the importance of 3D mesh data and the need for algorithms that can reliably align it Surface registration is important for building full 3D models from partial scans, creating statistical shape models, shape retrieval, and tracking The problem is particularly challenging for non-rigid and articulated objects like human bodies While the challenges of real-world data registration are not present in existing synthetic datasets, establishing ground-truth correspondences for real 3D scans is difficult We address this with a novel mesh registration technique that combines 3D shape and appearance information to produce high-quality alignments We define a new dataset called FAUST that contains 300 scans of 10 people in a wide range of poses together with an evaluation methodology To achieve accurate registration, we paint the subjects with high-frequency textures and use an extensive validation process to ensure accurate ground truth We find that current shape registration methods have trouble with this real-world data The dataset and evaluation website are available for research purposes at http://faustistuempgde

Principal Manifolds and Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction via Tangent Space Alignment

Abstract: We present a new algorithm for manifold learning and nonlinear dimensionality reduction. Based on a set of unorganized da-ta points sampled with noise from a parameterized manifold, the local geometry of the manifold is learned by constructing an approxi-mation for the tangent space at each point, and those tangent spaces are then aligned to give the global coordinates of the data pointswith respect to the underlying manifold. We also present an error analysis of our algorithm showing that reconstruction errors can bequite small in some cases. We illustrate our algorithm using curves and surfaces both in 2D/3D Euclidean spaces and higher dimension-al Euclidean spaces. We also address several theoretical and algorithmic issues for further research and improvements.

Functional maps: a flexible representation of maps between shapes

Abstract: We present a novel representation of maps between pairs of shapes that allows for efficient inference and manipulation. Key to our approach is a generalization of the notion of map that puts in correspondence real-valued functions rather than points on the shapes. By choosing a multi-scale basis for the function space on each shape, such as the eigenfunctions of its Laplace-Beltrami operator, we obtain a representation of a map that is very compact, yet fully suitable for global inference. Perhaps more remarkably, most natural constraints on a map, such as descriptor preservation, landmark correspondences, part preservation and operator commutativity become linear in this formulation. Moreover, the representation naturally supports certain algebraic operations such as map sum, difference and composition, and enables a number of applications, such as function or annotation transfer without establishing point-to-point correspondences. We exploit these properties to devise an efficient shape matching method, at the core of which is a single linear solve. The new method achieves state-of-the-art results on an isometric shape matching benchmark. We also show how this representation can be used to improve the quality of maps produced by existing shape matching methods, and illustrate its usefulness in segmentation transfer and joint analysis of shape collections.