Automatic video object segmentation via Voronoi ordering and surface optimization

We combine two theoretical concepts, Voronoi ordering and surface optimization formulation, to form a system for automatic video object segmentation in support of the MPEG-4 standard. Voronoi ordering is a means of projecting the object shape onto the image space; the surface optimization formulation provides a fitness measure for object boundaries in the video sequence. By simultaneously maintaining an invariant Voronoi ordering and maximizing the surface optimization metric, we can automatically extract video object planes. This paper outlines the theoretical aspects of Voronoi ordering and the formulation of video object segmentation as a surface optimization problem. Results from a direct implementation of this theory are shown for three MPEG-4 test sequences (container, coastguard and hallmonitor).