Techniques to improve the foreground segmentation with a 3D camera and a color camera

Nowadays, techniques for real-time interpretation of video scenes are widespread. Amongst these techniques, the
foreground segmentation is one of the favorite. It can be applied to color images as well as depth maps. The point of using depth maps is straightforward as a single color camera is not able to provide depth information. Technologies capable to acquire 3D informations are thus adequate to complement color cameras in consumer products. Practice has shown that 3D or RGB signals, taken alone, are unreliable to extract the foreground under
arbitrary conditions. Therefore we combine both modalities to counter the intrinsic limitations of both modalities, which is only possible if the problems specific to a technology are handled appropriately. This paper presents a new global approach for enhanced foreground segmentation that handles limitations to 3D and RGB in a combined way.