Open-Vocabulary Instance Segmentation With Pseudo-Mask Learning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing instance segmentation models require costly and time-consuming manual annotations for both pre-defined and new object categories, limiting their scalability and performance on novel categories.

Innovation Solution

An open-vocabulary instance segmentation framework using a pre-trained vision-language model to generate pseudo-mask annotations through weak supervision, eliminating the need for manual annotations and reducing overfitting by leveraging image-caption pairs.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If human-annotated image data is used to train segmentation models, then segmentation accuracy is improved, but annotation cost and time consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesegmentation accuracyVSAvoidannotation time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by using image-level annotations to pre-train segmentation models before deploying them for instance segmentation tasks. This pre-training phase prepares the model with general visual understanding, reducing the need for extensive instance-level annotations later.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses pseudo-mask annotations generated by the model as copies of ground truth labels to train subsequent models. These synthetic annotations serve as substitutes for manual instance-level annotations, significantly reducing annotation effort while maintaining segmentation quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Ease of manufacture

If pre-trained vision-language models are used to generate pseudo-mask annotations, then annotation cost is reduced, but annotation quality may deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveannotation efficiencyVSAvoidannotation quality
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the model's pseudo-mask predictions are evaluated and used to iteratively improve annotation quality. The system refines pseudo-mask generation through multiple passes, using confidence thresholds and iterative optimization to enhance annotation accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent adjusts various parameters including confidence thresholds, iteration counts, and model architecture hyperparameters to optimize the balance between annotation efficiency and quality. By tuning these parameters, the system adapts pseudo-mask generation to achieve high-quality annotations without manual intervention.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Productivity

If weak supervision is used instead of strong supervision, then training speed is improved, but model performance may worsen

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetraining speedVSAvoidmodel performance
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses weak supervision with image-level annotations for preliminary model training, enabling fast pre-training. This preliminary phase establishes basic visual understanding before the model is fine-tuned or deployed for specific instance segmentation tasks, achieving both speed and performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by generating high-quality pseudo-mask annotations for specific regions of interest rather than requiring uniform high-quality annotations across entire images. This localized approach maintains model performance while reducing overall annotation requirements and training complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS12387340B2Systems and methods for open vocabulary instance segmentation in unannotated images
Publication Date: 2025.08.12 SALESFORCE INC
  • US12387340B2 patent drawing
  • US12387340B2 patent drawing
  • US12387340B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Embodiments described herein provide an open-vocabulary instance segmentation framework that adopts a pre-trained vision-language model to develop a pipeline in detecting novel categories of instances.