Nonparametric density estimation for human pose tracking

The present paper considers the supplement of prior knowledge about joint angle configurations in the scope of 3-D human pose tracking. Training samples obtained from an industrial marker based tracking system are used for a nonparametric Parzen density estimation in the 12-dimensional joint configuration space. These learned probability densities constrain the image-driven joint angle estimates by drawing solutions towards familiar configurations. This prevents the method from producing unrealistic pose estimates due to unreliable image cues. Experiments on sequences with a human leg model reveal a considerably increased robustness, particularly in the presence of disturbed images and occlusions.