Color based video segmentation using level sets

A novel segmentation algorithm for color video sequences using the level set technique is proposed. This algorithm is applied to the problem of automatic face region segmentation in video sequences. Given a target color range training set, a model of that color distribution is formed. An objective-function is then defined that seeks the boundaries of any regions in an image that match the target colors. This function is minimized using an implementation of the level set algorithm. Motion estimation greatly reduces the computation required for segmenting video sequences. Results are presented demonstrating the high level of accuracy and flexibility of the proposed segmentation algorithm.