# Directional Statistics and Filtering Using libDirectional

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.09718 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.09718/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 28 Dec 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [NeuroPMD: Neural Fields for Density Estimation on Product Manifolds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.02994/) (2025)
- [Pose Tracking with a Foundation Pose Model and an Ensemble Directional Kalman Filter](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.03105/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we present libDirectional, a MATLAB library for directional statistics and directional estimation. It supports a variety of commonly used distributions on the unit circle, such as the von Mises, wrapped normal, and wrapped Cauchy distributions. Furthermore, various distributions on higher-dimensional manifolds such as the unit hypersphere and the hypertorus are available. Based on these distributions, several recursive filtering algorithms in libDirectional allow estimation on these manifolds. The functionality is implemented in a clear, well-documented, and object-oriented structure that is both easy to use and easy to extend.