Information Fusion
Kalman Filter, Sensor Fusion, and Constrained Regression: Equivalences and Insights
The Kalman filter (KF) is one of the most widely used tools for data assimilation and sequential estimation. In this work, we show that the state estimates from the KF in a standard linear dynamical system setting are equivalent to those given by the KF in a transformed system, with infinite process noise (i.e., a flat prior'') and an augmented measurement space. This reformulation---which we refer to as augmented measurement sensor fusion (SF)---is conceptually interesting, because the transformed system here is seemingly static (as there is effectively no process model), but we can still capture the state dynamics inherent to the KF by folding the process model into the measurement space. Further, this reformulation of the KF turns out to be useful in settings in which past states are observed eventually (at some lag). Here, when the measurement noise covariance is estimated by the empirical covariance, we show that the state predictions from SF are equivalent to those from a regression of past states on past measurements, subject to particular linear constraints (reflecting the relationships encoded in the measurement map). This allows us to port standard ideas (say, regularization methods) in regression over to dynamical systems.
AlterMOMA: Fusion Redundancy Pruning for Camera-LiDAR Fusion Models with Alternative Modality Masking
Camera-LiDAR fusion models significantly enhance perception performance in autonomous driving. Moreover, in practice, camera-LiDAR fusion models utilize pre-trained backbones for efficient training. However, we argue that directly loading single-modal pre-trained camera and LiDAR backbones into camera-LiDAR fusion models introduces similar feature redundancy across modalities due to the nature of the fusion mechanism. Unfortunately, existing pruning methods are developed explicitly for single-modal models, and thus, they struggle to effectively identify these specific redundant parameters in camera-LiDAR fusion models. In this paper, to address the issue above on camera-LiDAR fusion models, we propose a novelty pruning framework Alternative Modality Masking Pruning (AlterMOMA), which employs alternative masking on each modality and identifies the redundant parameters.
I2MoE: Interpretable Multimodal Interaction-aware Mixture-of-Experts
Xin, Jiayi, Yun, Sukwon, Peng, Jie, Choi, Inyoung, Ballard, Jenna L., Chen, Tianlong, Long, Qi
Modality fusion is a cornerstone of multimodal learning, enabling information integration from diverse data sources. However, vanilla fusion methods are limited by (1) inability to account for heterogeneous interactions between modalities and (2) lack of interpretability in uncovering the multimodal interactions inherent in the data. To this end, we propose I2MoE (Interpretable Multimodal Interaction-aware Mixture of Experts), an end-to-end MoE framework designed to enhance modality fusion by explicitly modeling diverse multimodal interactions, as well as providing interpretation on a local and global level. First, I2MoE utilizes different interaction experts with weakly supervised interaction losses to learn multimodal interactions in a data-driven way. Second, I2MoE deploys a reweighting model that assigns importance scores for the output of each interaction expert, which offers sample-level and dataset-level interpretation. Extensive evaluation of medical and general multimodal datasets shows that I2MoE is flexible enough to be combined with different fusion techniques, consistently improves task performance, and provides interpretation across various real-world scenarios. Code is available at https://github.com/Raina-Xin/I2MoE.
Ontology- and LLM-based Data Harmonization for Federated Learning in Healthcare
Kokash, Natallia, Wang, Lei, Gillespie, Thomas H., Belloum, Adam, Grosso, Paola, Quinney, Sara, Li, Lang, de Bono, Bernard
The rise of electronic health records (EHRs) has unlocked new opportunities for medical research, but privacy regulations and data heterogeneity remain key barriers to large-scale machine learning. Federated learning (FL) enables collaborative modeling without sharing raw data, yet faces challenges in harmonizing diverse clinical datasets. This paper presents a two-step data alignment strategy integrating ontologies and large language models (LLMs) to support secure, privacy-preserving FL in healthcare, demonstrating its effectiveness in a real-world project involving semantic mapping of EHR data.
Text-DiFuse: An Interactive Multi-Modal Image Fusion Framework based on Text-modulated Diffusion Model
Existing multi-modal image fusion methods fail to address the compound degradations presented in source images, resulting in fusion images plagued by noise, color bias, improper exposure, etc. Additionally, these methods often overlook the specificity of foreground objects, weakening the salience of the objects of interest within the fused images. To address these challenges, this study proposes a novel interactive multi-modal image fusion framework based on the text-modulated diffusion model, called Text-DiFuse. This is the first attempt to deeply and explicitly embed information fusion within the diffusion process, effectively addressing compound degradation in image fusion. Second, by embedding the combination of the text and zero-shot location model into the diffusion fusion process, a text-controlled fusion re-modulation strategy is developed.
BayesIMP: Uncertainty Quantification for Causal Data Fusion
While causal models are becoming one of the mainstays of machine learning, the problem of uncertainty quantification in causal inference remains challenging. In this paper, we study the causal data fusion problem, where data arising from multiple causal graphs are combined to estimate the average treatment effect of a target variable. As data arises from multiple sources and can vary in quality and sample size, principled uncertainty quantification becomes essential. To that end, we introduce \emph{Bayesian Causal Mean Processes}, the framework which combines ideas from probabilistic integration and kernel mean embeddings to represent interventional distributions in the reproducing kernel Hilbert space, while taking into account the uncertainty within each causal graph. To demonstrate the informativeness of our uncertainty estimation, we apply our method to the Causal Bayesian Optimisation task and show improvements over state-of-the-art methods.
Fast and Flexible Quantum-Inspired Differential Equation Solvers with Data Integration
Arenstein, Lucas, Mikkelsen, Martin, Kastoryano, Michael
Accurately solving high-dimensional partial differential equations (PDEs) remains a central challenge in computational mathematics. Traditional numerical methods, while effective in low-dimensional settings or on coarse grids, often struggle to deliver the precision required in practical applications. Recent machine learning-based approaches offer flexibility but frequently fall short in terms of accuracy and reliability, particularly in industrial contexts. In this work, we explore a quantum-inspired method based on quantized tensor trains (QTT), enabling efficient and accurate solutions to PDEs in a variety of challenging scenarios. Through several representative examples, we demonstrate that the QTT approach can achieve logarithmic scaling in both memory and computational cost for linear and nonlinear PDEs. Additionally, we introduce a novel technique for data-driven learning within the quantum-inspired framework, combining the adaptability of neural networks with enhanced accuracy and reduced training time.
Distance Estimation in Outdoor Driving Environments Using Phase-only Correlation Method with Event Cameras
Kobayashi, Masataka, Shiba, Shintaro, Kong, Quan, Kobori, Norimasa, Shimizu, Tsukasa, Lu, Shan, Yamazato, Takaya
With the growing adoption of autonomous driving, the advancement of sensor technology is crucial for ensuring safety and reliable operation. Sensor fusion techniques that combine multiple sensors such as LiDAR, radar, and cameras have proven effective, but the integration of multiple devices increases both hardware complexity and cost. Therefore, developing a single sensor capable of performing multiple roles is highly desirable for cost-efficient and scalable autonomous driving systems. Event cameras have emerged as a promising solution due to their unique characteristics, including high dynamic range, low latency, and high temporal resolution. These features enable them to perform well in challenging lighting conditions, such as low-light or backlit environments. Moreover, their ability to detect fine-grained motion events makes them suitable for applications like pedestrian detection and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication via visible light. In this study, we present a method for distance estimation using a monocular event camera and a roadside LED bar. By applying a phase-only correlation technique to the event data, we achieve sub-pixel precision in detecting the spatial shift between two light sources. This enables accurate triangulation-based distance estimation without requiring stereo vision. Field experiments conducted in outdoor driving scenarios demonstrated that the proposed approach achieves over 90% success rate with less than 0.5-meter error for distances ranging from 20 to 60 meters. Future work includes extending this method to full position estimation by leveraging infrastructure such as smart poles equipped with LEDs, enabling event-camera-based vehicles to determine their own position in real time. This advancement could significantly enhance navigation accuracy, route optimization, and integration into intelligent transportation systems.
Clustering and Pruning in Causal Data Fusion
Tabell, Otto, Tikka, Santtu, Karvanen, Juha
Data fusion--the process of combining observational and exp erimental data--can enable the identification of causal effects that would otherwise rem ain non-identifiable. Although identification algorithms have been developed for specific s cenarios, do-calculus remains the only general-purpose tool for causal data fusion, particul arly when variables are present in some data sources but not others. However, approaches based on do-calculus may encounter computational challenges as the number of variables increa ses and the causal graph grows in complexity. Consequently, there exists a need to reduce t he size of such models while preserving the essential features. For this purpose, we pro pose pruning (removing unnecessary variables) and clustering (combining variables) as pr eprocessing operations for causal data fusion. We generalize earlier results on a single data s ource and derive conditions for applying pruning and clustering in the case of multiple data sources. We give sufficient conditions for inferring the identifiability or non-identi fiability of a causal effect in a larger graph based on a smaller graph and show how to obtain the corre sponding identifying functional for identifiable causal effects. Examples from ep idemiology and social science demonstrate the use of the results.
MSCEKF-MIO: Magnetic-Inertial Odometry Based on Multi-State Constraint Extended Kalman Filter
Li, Jiazhu, Kuang, Jian, Niu, Xiaoji
To overcome the limitation of existing indoor odometry technologies which often cannot simultaneously meet requirements for accuracy cost-effectiveness, and robustness-this paper proposes a novel magnetometer array-aided inertial odometry approach, MSCEKF-MIO (Multi-State Constraint Extended Kalman Filter-based Magnetic-Inertial Odometry). We construct a magnetic field model by fitting measurements from the magnetometer array and then use temporal variations in this model-extracted from continuous observations-to estimate the carrier's absolute velocity. Furthermore, we implement the MSCEKF framework to fuse observed magnetic field variations with position and attitude estimates from inertial navigation system (INS) integration, thereby enabling autonomous, high-precision indoor relative positioning. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves superior velocity estimation accuracy and horizontal positioning precision relative to state-of-the-art magnetic array-aided INS algorithms (MAINS). On datasets with trajectory lengths of 150-250m, the proposed method yields an average horizontal position RMSE of approximately 2.5m. In areas with distinctive magnetic features, the magneto-inertial odometry achieves a velocity estimation accuracy of 0.07m/s. Consequently, the proposed method offers a novel positioning solution characterized by low power consumption, cost-effectiveness, and high reliability in complex indoor environments.