Real-time sequential model-based non-rigid SFM

Tracking non-rigid objects from video is useful in robotic systems such as HMIs or robotic manipulator arms which interact with deformable objects. This paper proposes a method for sequential model-based 3D reconstruction of deformable objects and camera localization in real time. Non-rigid SFM methods commonly process a video sequence offline in a batch way. While there are real-time methods for rigid models, reconstruction of deformable 3D shapes for real-time applications is still unsolved. Dense approaches offer promising results, but processing all frames in batch, offline. We propose a real-time non-rigid reconstruction method based on a known deformable model. Object shape and pose is tracked by real-time estimation of camera pose and deformation coefficients. An extensive evaluation of the algorithm on several data sets, and comparison with state-of-the-art techniques is performed. The tests include different outlier rates, noise levels and occlusions handling.