In a groundbreaking collaboration, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University have unveiled a pioneering open-source framework, FAn, to revolutionize real-time object detection, tracking, and following. The team’s paper, titled “Follow Anything: Open-set detection, tracking, and following in real-time,” showcases a system that promises to eliminate the limitations of existing robotic object-following systems.

The core challenge addressed by FAn is the adaptability of robotic systems to new objects. Conventional systems are confined by a closed-set structure, only capable of handling a predefined range of object categories. FAn defies this constraint, introducing an open-set approach that can detect, segment, track, and follow any object in real-time. Notably, it can dynamically adapt to new objects through inputs such as text, images, or click queries. — Read More

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