Real-time fusion of low-light CCD and uncooled IR imagery for color night vision

Mario Aguilar; David A. Fay; W. D. Ross; Allen M. Waxman; David B. Ireland; Joseph P. Racamato

doi:10.1117/12.317462

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30 July 1998 Real-time fusion of low-light CCD and uncooled IR imagery for color night vision

Mario Aguilar, David A. Fay, W. D. Ross, Allen M. Waxman, David B. Ireland, Joseph P. Racamato

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Proceedings Volume 3364, Enhanced and Synthetic Vision 1998; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317462
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

We present an approach to color night vision through fusion of information derived from visible and thermal infrared sensors. Building on the work reported at SPIE in 1996 and 1997, we show how opponent-color processing and center-surround shunting neural networks can achieve informative multi-band image fusion. In particular, by emulating spatial and color processing in the retina, we demonstrate an effective strategy for multi-sensor color-night vision. We have developed a real- time visible/IR fusion processor from multiple C80 DSP chips using commercially available Matrox Genesis boards, which we use in conjunction with the Lincoln Lab low-light CCD and a Raytheon TI Systems uncooled IR camera. Limited human factors testing of visible/IR fusion is presented showing improvements in human performance using our color fused imagery relative to alternative fusion strategies or either single image modality alone. We conclude that fusion architectures that match opponent-sensor contrast to human opponent-color processing will yield fused image products of high image quality and utility.

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Mario Aguilar, David A. Fay, W. D. Ross, Allen M. Waxman, David B. Ireland, and Joseph P. Racamato "Real-time fusion of low-light CCD and uncooled IR imagery for color night vision", Proc. SPIE 3364, Enhanced and Synthetic Vision 1998, (30 July 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.317462

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