Patent ID: 7164718

Claim:
A method for segmenting a video image based on elementary objects, comprising, with regard to at least one elementary object delimited by a natural contour of the video image, the steps of: defining, around the elementary object, a starting contour arbitrarily and completely surrounding said elementary object; defining, on the basis of said starting contour, an original active contour, formed by a set of nodes distributed on the starting contour, each node being formed by a point belonging to the starting contour and by an elastic energy function representative of the distance separating the node from a neighbouring node; subjecting, with regard to a set of reference values representing the natural contour of said elementary object, said original active contour to a convergent deformation, by displacing toward the natural contour of the elementary object at least one of the nodes of the original active contour, so as to generate a current active contour, the current active contour being subjected iteratively to said convergent deformation to generate distinct successive current active contours as long as said displacement satisfies the non-blocking condition and in halting any nodal displacement of said current active contour otherwise, generating a final current active contour substantially reproducing the natural contour of said elementary object.