Models for Patch-Based Image Restoration

We present a supervised learning approach for object-category specific restoration, recognition, and segmentation of images which are blurred using an unknown kernel. The novelty of this work is a multilayer graphical model which unifies the low-level vision task of restoration and the high-level vision task of recognition in a cooperative framework. The graphical model is an interconnected two-layer Markov random field. The restoration layer accounts for the compatibility between sharp and blurred images and models the association between adjacent patches in the sharp image. The recognition layer encodes the entity class and its location in the underlying scene. The potentials are represented using nonparametric kernel densities and are learnt from training data. Inference is performed using nonparametric belief propagation. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our model for the restoration and recognition of blurred license plates as well as face images. Copyright (C) 2009 Mithun Das Gupta et al.