A three-frame algorithm for estimating two-component image motion

A fundamental assumption made in formulating optical-flow algorithms, that motion at any point in an image can be represented as a single pattern component undergoing a simple translation, fails for a number of situations that commonly occur in real-world images. An alternative formulation of the local motion assumption in which there may be two distinct patterns undergoing coherent (e.g. affine) motion within a given local analysis region is proposed. An algorithm for the analysis of two-component motion in which tracking and nulling mechanisms applied to three consecutive image frames separate and estimate the individual components is given. Precise results are obtained, even for components that differ only slightly in velocity as well as for a faint component in the presence of a dominant, masking component. The algorithm provides precise motion estimates for a set of elementary two-motion configurations and is robust in the presence of noise