Graph-Based Data Association in Multiple Object Tracking: A Survey

Despoina Touska, Konstantinos Gkountakos, Theodora Tsikrika, Konstantinos Ioannidis, Stefanos Vrochidis, Ioannis Kompatsiaris

Abstract: In Multiple Object Tracking (MOT), data association is a key component of the tracking-by-detection paradigm and endeavors to link a set of discrete object observations across a video sequence, yielding possible trajectories. Our intention is to provide a classification of numerous graph-based works according to the way they measure object dependencies and their footprint on the graph structure they construct. In particular, methods are organized into Measurement-to-Measurement (MtM), Measurement-to-Track (MtT), and Track-to-Track (TtT). At the same time, we include recent Deep Learning (DL) implementations among traditional approaches to present the latest trends and developments in the field and offer a performance comparison. In doing so, this work serves as a foundation for future research by providing newcomers with information about the graph-based bibliography of MOT.