Robust image segmentation using resampling and shape constraints.

Automated segmentation of images has been considered an important intermediate processing task to extract semantic meaning from pixels. We propose an integrated approach for image segmentation based on a generative clustering model combined with coarse shape information and robust parameter estimation. The sensitivity of segmentation solutions to image variations is measured by image resampling. Shape information is included in the inference process to guide ambiguous groupings of color and texture features. Shape and similarity-based grouping information is combined into a semantic likelihood map in the framework of Bayesian statistics. Experimental evidence shows that semantically meaningful segments are inferred even when image data alone gives rise to ambiguous segmentations.