Segmenting video by panorama and color mixture models

In this paper we propose a method to replace the common "blue screen" technique in performing segmentation. The target object image in the video sequence is separated from the background through a segmentation process employing the color mixture model techniques. The background information is recovered through a similarity search with the panorama of the original background. The foreground segment can then be encoded by traditional compression while the scene background is represented as a panorama. Finally, the foreground object combines with the corresponding panoramic segment or any desired image on-the-fly to reconstruct the video frame. Our system can be used in low bandwidth applications as well as special demonstration in which the demonstrator can appear/disappear at any time he/she wishes.