A moving object segmentation algorithm for static camera via active contours and GMM

Moving object segmentation is one of the most challenging issues in computer vision. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for static camera foreground segmentation. It combines Gaussian mixture model (GMM) and active contours method, and produces much better results than conventional background subtraction methods. It formulates foreground segmentation as an energy minimization problem and minimizes the energy function using curve evolution method. Our algorithm integrates the GMM background model, shadow elimination term and curve evolution edge stopping term into energy function. It achieves more accurate segmentation than existing methods of the same type. Promising results on real images demonstrate the potential of the presented method. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB303105), the Chinese Ministry of Education Innovation Team Fund Project (Grant No. IRT0707), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60673109 and 60801053), Beijing Excellent Doctoral Thesis Program (Grant No. YB20081000401), Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 4082025), and Doctoral Foundation of China (Grant No. 20070004037)