Methods and software for detecting objects in an image using a contextual multiscale fast region-based convolutional neural network

Abstract

Methods of detecting an object in an image using a convolutional neural-network-based architecture that processes multiple feature maps of differing scales from differing convolution layers within a convolutional network to create a regional-proposal bounding box. The bounding box is projected back to the feature maps of the individual convolution layers to obtain a set of regions of interest (ROIs) and a corresponding set of context regions that provide additional context for the ROIs. These ROIs and context regions are processed to create a confidence score representing a confidence that the object detected in the bounding box is the desired object. These processes allow the method to utilize deep features encoded in both the global and the local representation for object regions, allowing the method to robustly deal with challenges in the problem of object detection. Software for executing the disclosed methods within an object-detection system is also disclosed.