We present an extension to the Jojic and Frey (2001) layered sprite model which allows for layers to undergo affine transformations. This extension allows for affine object pose to be inferred whilst simultaneously learning the object shape and appearance. Learning is carried out by applying an augmented variational inference algorithm which includes a global search over a discretised transform space followed by a local optimisation. To aid correct convergence, we use bottom-up cues to restrict the space of possible affine transformations. We present results on a number of video sequences and show how the model can be extended to track an object whose appearance changes throughout the sequence.
John M. Winn, Andrew Blake