Real-time multi-colourspace hand segmentation

Abstract

This paper proposes an accurate real-time hand tracking and segmentation algorithm. A particle filter tracks the hands in time, based on colour and motion cues. This filter is able to automatically recover from failures and does not need an initialization phase. The algorithm is proven to be robust against lighting changes, and can be used in unconstrained environments. Hand segmentation is based on a Gaussian Mixture Model and refined using a combination of spatial information. Cues from both HSV and RGB colour space are used to increase robustness.