The Incremental Rigidity Scheme for Recovering Structure from Motion: Position vs. Velocity Based Formulations

Perceptual studies suggest that the visual system uses the "rigidity" assumption to recover three dimensional structures from motion. Ullman (1984) recently proposed a computational scheme, the incremental rigidity scheme, which uses the rigidity assumptions to recover the structure of rigid and non-rigid objects in motion. The scheme assumes the input to be discrete positions of elements in motion, under orthographic projection. We present formulations of Ullmans' method that use velocity information and perspective projection in the recovery of structure. Theoretical and computer analyses show that the velocity based formulations provide a rough estimate of structure quickly, but are not robust over an extended time period. The stable long term recovery of structure requires disparate views of moving objects. Our analysis raises interesting questions regarding the recovery of structure from motion in the human visual system