Constructing qualitative event models automatically from video input

We describe an implemented technique for generating event models automatically based on qualitative reasoning and a statistical analysis of video input. Using an existing tracking program which generates labelled contours for objects in every frame, the view from a fixed camera is partitioned into semantically relevant regions based on the paths followed by moving objects. The paths are indexed with temporal information so objects moving along the same path at different speeds can be distinguished. Using a notion of proximity based on the speed of the moving objects and qualitative spatial reasoning techniques, event models describing the behaviour of pairs of objects can be built, again using statistical methods. The system has been tested on a traffic domain and learns various event models expressed in the qualitative calculus which represent human observable events. The system can then be used to recognise subsequent selected event occurrences or unusual behaviours. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.