We describe a semi-automatic color segmentation scheme based on simulated annealing. Unlike automatic techniques which cannot know the region of interest to the user, this method allows a user to very quickly identify an arbitrary but particular region and returns the region more accurately segmented and appropriately measured. This technique could be used in a range of applications such as image sub-selection in graphic arts, tumor identification in medicine, or as an input mechanism for training samples in industrial tracking. We have implemented this technique in an educational software tool which allows students to take measurements on images and videos. Using the region identification routine, students can compare the land areas of the continents, the growth of the ozone hole, or the size of an enormous iceberg which recently broke off an ice shelf in Antarctica.
By: Lisa M. Brown
Published in: RC21879 in 2000
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