Natural Feature Detection on Mobile Phones with 3D FAST

In this paper, we present a novel feature detection approach designed for mobile devices, showing optimized solutions for both detection and description. It is based on FAST (Features from Accelerated Segment Test) and named 3D FAST. Being robust, scale-invariant and easy to compute, it is a candidate for augmented reality (AR) applications running on low performance platforms. Using simple calculations and machine learning, FAST is a feature detection algorithm known to be efficient but not very robust in addition to its lack of scale information. Our approach relies on gradient images calculated for different scale levels on which a modified9 FAST algorithm operates to obtain the values of the corner response function. We combine the detection with an adapted version of SURF (Speed Up Robust Features) descriptors, providing a system with all means to implement feature matching and object detection. Experimental evaluation on a Symbian OS device using a standard image set and comparison with SURF using Hessian matrix-based detector is included in this paper, showing improvements in speed (compared to SURF) and robustness (compared to FAST)