Efficient discrete Gabor functions for robot vision

Abstract

A new discrete Gabor function provides subpixel resolution of phase while overcoming many of the computational burdens of current approaches to Gabor function implementation. Applications include hyperacuity measurement of binocular disparity and optic flow for stereo vision. Convolution is avoided by exploiting band-pass to subsample the image plane. A general purpose front end processor for robot vision, based on a wavelet interpretation of this discrete Gabor function, can be constructed by tessellating and pyramiding the elementary filter. Computational efficiency opens the door to real-time implementation which mimics many properties of the simple and complex cells in the visual cortex.