Fast Extraction of Objects of Interest from Images with Low Depth of Field

In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised video object extraction algorithm for individual images or image sequences with low depth of field (DOF). Low DOF is a popular photographic technique which enables the representation of the photographer's intention by giving a clear focus only on an object of interest (OOI). We first describe a fast and efficient scheme for extracting OOIs from individual low-DOF images and then extend it to deal with image sequences with low DOF in the next part. The basic algorithm unfolds into three modules. In the first module, a higher-order statistics map, which represents the spatial distribution of the high-frequency components, is obtained from an input low-DOF image. The second module locates the block-based OOI for further processing. Using the block-based OOI, the final OOI is obtained with pixel-level accuracy. We also present an algorithm to extend the extraction scheme to image sequences with low DOF. The proposed system does not require any user assistance to determine the initial OOI. This is possible due to the use of low-DOF images. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithm can serve as an effective tool for applications, such as 2D to 3D and photo-realistic video scene generation.