Latent Data Association: Bayesian Model Selection for Multi-target Tracking

We propose a novel parametrization of the data association problem for multi-target tracking. In our formulation, the number of targets is implicitly inferred together with the data association, effectively solving data association and model selection as a single inference problem. The novel formulation allows us to interpret data association and tracking as a single Switching Linear Dynamical System (SLDS). We compute an approximate posterior solution to this problem using a dynamic programming/message passing technique. This inference-based approach allows us to incorporate richer probabilistic models into the tracking system. In particular, we incorporate inference over inliers/outliers and track termination times into the system. We evaluate our approach on publicly available datasets and demonstrate results competitive with, and in some cases exceeding the state of the art.