Active contours for visual tracking: a geometric gradient based approach

In this note, we analyze the geometric active contour models proposed in [5, 19] from a curve evolution point of view and propose some modifications based on gradient flows relative to certain new metrics. This leads to a novel snake paradigm in which the feature of interest may be considered to lie at the bottom of a potential well. Thus the snake is attracted very naturally and efficiently to the desired feature. Moreover, we consider some 3-D active surface models based on these ideas.