Error propagation in geometry based grouping

Acknowledgements The work described in this thesis, and its description itself, spans over nearly a decade. During this time many people accompanied me and my work: supervisors and colleagues, friends and relatives, acquaintances and strangers have left their impact, be it stimulating or restricting, inspiring or correcting, aiding or abetting, encouraging or forbearing, loving or caring. Everyone of them my heartfelt thanks! Prof. Burkhardt and Prof. Neumann I have to thank for giving me the possibilities and wide support for the research which has led to this thesis. I have always enjoyed working for Prof. Burkhardt, who invariably supported my independence, and I'm indebted to Prof. Neumann, who offered me a position among his staff when Prof. Burkhardt left Hamburg to follow a call from the University of Freiburg. I also wish to thank the numerous colleagues and fellow researchers who helped along my thesis through many fruitful discussions and who, in many cases, took on themselves the considerable burden of proofreading various parts of this thesis at various stages. My particular thanks go to Andrew Zisserman, who in many respects shaped my research interests and methodology and whose inimitable people skills will always serve as an unreachable example; others who went far beyond the call of duty include work at Ti-I and, in the case of the first three, LMB, most pleasing, and Ullrich Köthe and Hans Meine did the same for me at KOGS; the last two often also had to serve as a sounding board for new ideas — as Ullrich often used me to sound out his ideas. Thank you very much for your comradeship! But most of all my thanks belong to my family: to my mother, Christl Utcke-Hamann, whose unshakeable trust in me and my abilities, as well as her constant and devotional support made me into the person I am today. Vielen, vielen Dank Mama, Du bist die beste! And to my wife, Gabi Beutner, for the countless hours I was excused from household and other chores in order to work on my thesis (and sometimes did), and for the longanimity and patience with which she bore my sulkiness and fretfulness during the bleaker moments of my work; and finally to my son, Moritz Utcke, whose birth was the final impetus which ultimately had me finish this thesis.