Threshold Active Learning Approach for Physical Violence Detection on Images Obtained from Video (Frame-Level) Using Pre-Trained Deep Learning Neural Network Models

Itzel M. Abundez, Roberto Alejo, Francisco Primero Primero, Everardo E. Granda-Gutiérrez, Otniel Portillo-Rodríguez, Juan Alberto Antonio Velázquez

Public authorities and private companies have used video cameras as part of surveillance systems, and one of their objectives is the rapid detection of physically violent actions. This task is usually performed by human visual inspection, which is labor-intensive. For this reason, different deep learning models have been implemented to remove the human eye from this task, yielding positive results. One of the main problems in detecting physical violence in videos is the variety of scenarios that can exist, which leads to different models being trained on datasets, leading them to detect physical violence in only one or a few types of videos. In this work, we present an approach for physical violence detection on images obtained from video based on threshold active learning, that increases the classifier’s robustness in environments where it was not trained. The proposed approach consists of two stages: In the first stage, pre-trained neural network models are trained on initial datasets, and we use a threshold (μ) to identify those images that the classifier considers ambiguous or hard to classify. Then, they are included in the training dataset, and the model is retrained to improve its classification performance. In the second stage, we test the model with video images from other environments, and we again employ (μ) to detect ambiguous images that a human expert analyzes to determine the real class or delete the ambiguity on them. After that, the ambiguous images are added to the original training set and the classifier is retrained; this process is repeated while ambiguous images exist. The model is a hybrid neural network that uses transfer learning and a threshold μ to detect physical violence on images obtained from video files successfully. In this active learning process, the classifier can detect physical violence in different environments, where the main contribution is the method used to obtain a threshold μ (which is based on the neural network output) that allows human experts to contribute to the classification process to obtain more robust neural networks and high-quality datasets. The experimental results show the proposed approach’s effectiveness in detecting physical violence, where it is trained using an initial dataset, and new images are added to improve its robustness in diverse environments.