Active contours for tracking distributions.

A new approach to tracking using active contours is presented. The class of objects to be tracked is assumed to be characterized by a probability distribution over some variable, such as intensity, color, or texture. The goal of the algorithm is to find the region within the current image, such that the sample distribution of the interior of the region most closely matches the model distribution. Two separate criteria for matching distributions are examined, and the curve evolution equations are derived in each case. The flows are shown to perform well in experiments.