Apparatus and method for context-based indexing and retrieval of image sequences
First Claim
1. A method for performing object motion segmentation for an image sequence having a plurality of frames, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) determining at least one connected region within one of said frames of said image sequence;
b) applying block-based motion vectors corresponding to blocks within said at least one connected region to generate optical flow motion parameters; and
c) using said generated optical flow motion parameters for identifying a key object.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for implementing object motion segmentation and object trajectory segmentation for an image sequence. Specifically, block-based motion vectors for a pair of adjacent frames are used to derive optical flow, e.g., affine, motion parameters. Such optical flow motion parameters are employed to determine key objects where their motion and trajectory within a sequence of frames are calculated and stored. Such object motion information is used to improve or offer image processing functions such as context-based indexing of the input image sequence by using motion-based information.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for performing object motion segmentation for an image sequence having a plurality of frames, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) determining at least one connected region within one of said frames of said image sequence;
b) applying block-based motion vectors corresponding to blocks within said at least one connected region to generate optical flow motion parameters; and
c) using said generated optical flow motion parameters for identifying a key object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12)
d) determining if an identified key object found in step c) is of sufficient size.
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4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:
d) determining if any two identified key objects found in step c) are to be merged into a single key object.
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5. The method of claim 4, wherein said determining step d) comprises the step of:
d1) applying block-based motion vectors from at least three blocks from said any two identified key objects to generate a new set of optical flow motion parameters.
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6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
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d) labeling an identified key object found in step c); and
e) tracking said labeled key object in a current frame by using motion vector information from said current frame to correlate a region in said current frame with a labeled key object of a previous frame.
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7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
d) indexing the image sequence in accordance with said optical flow motion parameters of any identified key objects from step c).
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8. The method of claim 7, wherein said indexing step d) indexes the image sequence in accordance with said optical flow motion parameters of any identified key objects in conjunction with a spatial information associated with said any identified key objects.
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9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
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d) splitting said identified key object into a plurality of sub-objects; and
e) applying block-based motion vectors from at least three blocks from each of said sub-objects to generate a new set of optical flow motion parameters for each of said sub-objects.
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12. The method of claim 1, wherein said optical flow motion parameters are affine motion parameters.
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10. A method for performing motion segmentation and trajectory segmentation for an image sequence having a plurality of frames, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) applying optical flow object motion segmentation to obtain motion information for identifying at least one key object for a frame of the image sequence; and
b) applying optical flow object trajectory segmentation to obtain trajectory information for said at least one key object for a frame interval greater than two frames of the image sequence. - View Dependent Claims (11)
a1) determining at least one connected region within one of said frame of said image sequence;
a2) applying block-based motion vectors to generate optical flow motion parameters; and
a3) using said generated optical flow motion parameters for searching one or more key objects.
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13. An apparatus for performing object motion segmentation for an image sequence having a plurality of frames, said apparatus comprising:
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means for determining at least one connected region within one of said frame of said image sequence; and
an optical flow object segmenter for applying block-based motion vectors corresponding to blocks within said at least one connected region to generate optical flow motion parameters and for using said generated optical flow motion parameters for searching one or more key objects. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for performing motion segmentation and trajectory segmentation for an image sequence having a plurality of frames, said apparatus comprising:
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an optical flow object motion segmenter for obtaining motion information for at least one key object for a frame of the image sequence; and
an optical flow object trajectory segmenter for obtaining trajectory information for said at least one key object for a frame interval greater than two frames of the image sequence. - View Dependent Claims (18)
means for determining at least one connected region within one of said frame of said image sequence; and
a segmenter for applying block-based motion vectors to generate optical flow motion parameters and for using said generated optical flow motion parameters for searching one or more key objects.
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19. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps comprising of:
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a) determining at least one connected region within one of said frame of said image sequence;
b) applying block-based motion vectors corresponding to blocks within said at least one connected region to generate optical flow motion parameters; and
c) using said generated optical flow motion parameters for identifying a key object.
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20. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps comprising of:
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a) applying optical flow object motion segmentation to obtain motion information for identifying at least one key object for a frame of the image sequence; and
b) applying optical flow object trajectory segmentation to obtain trajectory information for said at least one key object for a frame interval greater than two frames of the image sequence.
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Specification