An active contour model for object tracking using the previous contour

An active contour model is proposed for object tracking using prior information. Conventional algorithms have many problems when applied in object tracking. The proposed active contour algorithm, a model using an edge of an adapted color feature, not only modifies the internal energy function of the conventional algorithm to extend the search range and reduce the computational burden, but also modifies the external energy function to reduce the edge candidates of the object. The algorithm searches normally and uses dynamic programming to solve the energy minimization problem. The main drawbacks of a conventional snake algorithm, i.e., shrinking, a limited search range, sensitivity to outliers, are improved with the proposed algorithm. We illustrate the effectiveness of our scheme using some tracking examples. This work was presented, in part, at the Seventh International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, January 16–18, 2002