Designing an interactive tool for video object segmentation and annotation

An interactive authoring system is proposed for semi-automatic video object segmentation and annotation. This system features a new contour interpolation algorithm, which enables the user to define the contour of a video object on multiple frames while the computer interpolates the missing contours of this object on every frame automatically. Typical active contour (snake) model is adapted and the contour interpolation problem is decomposed into two directional contour tracking problems and a merging problem. In addition, new user interaction models are created for the user to interact with the computer. Experiments indicate that this system offers a good balance between algorithm complexity and user interaction efficiency.