Visual Forecasting as a Mid-level Representation for Avoidance
This addresses obstacle avoidance for autonomous agents, but it appears incremental as it builds on predictive methods with visual cues.
The paper tackled navigation with dynamic objects by proposing visual forecasting as a mid-level representation, using bounding boxes and augmented paths to project future trajectories, and confirmed its viability in simulated and real-world evaluations.
The challenge of navigation in environments with dynamic objects continues to be a central issue in the study of autonomous agents. While predictive methods hold promise, their reliance on precise state information makes them less practical for real-world implementation. This study presents visual forecasting as an innovative alternative. By introducing intuitive visual cues, this approach projects the future trajectories of dynamic objects to improve agent perception and enable anticipatory actions. Our research explores two distinct strategies for conveying predictive information through visual forecasting: (1) sequences of bounding boxes, and (2) augmented paths. To validate the proposed visual forecasting strategies, we initiate evaluations in simulated environments using the Unity engine and then extend these evaluations to real-world scenarios to assess both practicality and effectiveness. The results confirm the viability of visual forecasting as a promising solution for navigation and obstacle avoidance in dynamic environments.