Graph based segmentation with minimal user interaction

In this paper, we present a graph based segmentation method that only requires a single point from user initialization. We incorporate a new image feature into the segmentation scheme. It is derived from a vector field that takes into account gradient vector interactions across the image domain, and has the simplicity of edge based features but also proves to be a useful region indication in two-level segmentation. Effective vector field diffusion is proposed to deal with excessive image noise. Based on a single user point we unravel the image and transfer the object segmentation into a height field segmentation in polar coordinates, which in effect imposes a star shape prior. The search of a minimum closed set on a node weighted, directed graph produces the segmentation result. Comparative analysis on real world images demonstrates promising performances of the proposed method in segmentation accuracy and its simplicity in user interaction.