Fast and accurate motion estimation using orientation tensors and parametric motion models

Motion estimation in image sequences is an important step in many computer vision and image processing applications. Several methods for solving this problem have been proposed, but very few manage to achieve a high level of accuracy without sacrificing processing speed. This paper presents a novel motion estimation algorithm, which gives excellent results on both counts. The algorithm starts by computing 3D orientation tensors from the image sequence. These are combined under the constraints of a parametric motion model to produce velocity estimates. Evaluated on the well-known Yosemite sequence, the algorithm shows an accuracy substantially better than those obtained using previously published methods. Computationally, the algorithm is simple and can be implemented by means of separable convolutions, which also makes it fast.