Natural image matting based on neighbor embedding

Abstract

In this paper, an automatic technique for natural image matting is proposed. We use visual characteristics of the background and foreground regions for matting. Through the Locally Linear Embedding (LLE) of high-dimensional features, we estimate foreground and back-ground color of unknown pixels. We use gradient information and a hierarchical model to enhance the proposed matting technique. Instead of a user interaction for tri-map generation, we propose an automatic technique that obtains a tri-map using a multi-view camera. A reliability map for the depth of a scene facilitates the generation of a tri-map. It is proven that feature sets obtained from training images can be applied to similar images or video frames. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.