Metadata Assisted Image Segmentation

Abstract

For over a century the process of capturing electronic images has remained virtually unchanged, with each pixel in the image being a discrete sample of the spatial and temporal continuum being photographed. In a conventional camera, the only recorded information for each pixel is position and colour. The fact is that captured images remain very limited samples of the scene they represent, only giving a 2D impression of the 3D spatial buildup of the scene. This primitive process of capture is the cause of problems in a myriad of applications, ranging from the film and television post-production to virtual reality, or object-based video formats and industrial inspection. Although much effort has been put into surmounting these problems, all these approaches are based on the estimation of data that is simply not included in the discrete samples provided by digital images, and so are limited in the quality they can provide. The capture of additional data is a step forward to add