A Low Cost Visual Hull based Markerless System for the Optimization of Athletic Techniques in Outdoor Environments

A. El-Sallam, M. Bennamoun, F. Sohel, J. Alderson, A. Lyttle, T. Warburton

2013

Abstract

We propose a low cost 3D markerless motion analysis system for the optimization of athletic performance during training sessions. The system utilizes eight calibrated and synchronized High Definition (HD) cameras in order to capture a video of an athlete from different viewpoints. An improved kernel density estimation (KDE) based background segmentation algorithm is proposed to segment the athlete’s silhouettes from their background in each video frame. The silhouettes are then reprojected to reconstruct the 3D visual hull (VH) of the athlete. The center of the VH as an approximate representation of the body center of mass is then tracked over a number of frames. A set of motion analysis parameters are finally estimated and compared to the ones obtained by an outdoor state of the art marker-based system (Vicon). The proposed system is aimed at sports such as javelin, pole vault, and long jump and was able to provide comparable results with the Vicon system.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

El-Sallam A., Bennamoun M., Sohel F., Alderson J., Lyttle A. and Warburton T. (2013). A Low Cost Visual Hull based Markerless System for the Optimization of Athletic Techniques in Outdoor Environments . In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications - Volume 1: GRAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2013) ISBN 978-989-8565-46-4, pages 49-59. DOI: 10.5220/0004291000490059

in Bibtex Style

@conference{grapp13,
author={A. El-Sallam and M. Bennamoun and F. Sohel and J. Alderson and A. Lyttle and T. Warburton},
title={A Low Cost Visual Hull based Markerless System for the Optimization of Athletic Techniques in Outdoor Environments},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications - Volume 1: GRAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2013)},
year={2013},
pages={49-59},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0004291000490059},
isbn={978-989-8565-46-4},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Graphics Theory and Applications and International Conference on Information Visualization Theory and Applications - Volume 1: GRAPP, (VISIGRAPP 2013)
TI - A Low Cost Visual Hull based Markerless System for the Optimization of Athletic Techniques in Outdoor Environments
SN - 978-989-8565-46-4
AU - El-Sallam A.
AU - Bennamoun M.
AU - Sohel F.
AU - Alderson J.
AU - Lyttle A.
AU - Warburton T.
PY - 2013
SP - 49
EP - 59
DO - 10.5220/0004291000490059