Object extraction and tracking using genetic algorithms

To support the content-based functionalities in the new video coding standard MPEG-4, each frame of a video sequence must first be extracted into video object planes, each of which represents a meaningful moving object. However, extraction and tracking of a video sequence into video object planes remains a difficult and unresolved problem. Accordingly, this paper presents an object extraction and tracking method based on genetic algorithms that can automatically extract and track moving objects. Each frame is spatially segmented by chromosomes that evolve using distributed genetic algorithms. Thereafter, the spatial segmentation result is combined with a change detection mask, thereby creating the video object planes. To eliminate any redundant computation and maintain the temporal continuity of the same objects between two consecutive frames, the chromosomes are started from the spatial segmentation result of the previous frame, and then only unstable chromosomes corresponding to the moving object parts are evolved. Experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.