Patent ID: 7684592

Claim:
A method of tracking a target, comprising the steps of: inputting a sequence of images representative of a scene; selecting a target in the scene; computing with a processor the median color of a region around the selected target, and storing this as the color of the target; computing a two-dimensional template of the target based upon the color of the target, and storing this template as the shape of the target; computing the center of the target based upon its shape; a) comparing the center of the target to the center of the target in the previous image of the sequence to determine the motion of the target, if any; b) determining the probable new location of the target based upon the target color, shape and motion; c) using a weighing technique to determine the most probable new location of the target; and d) tracking the target by repeating steps a)-c) for each new image in the sequence of images.