Viewpoint-independent book spine segmentation

We propose a method to precisely segment books on bookshelves in images taken from general viewpoints. The proposed segmentation algorithm overcomes difficulties due to text and texture on book spines, various book orientations under perspective projection, and book proximity. A shape dependent active contour is used as a first step to establish a set of book spine candidates. A subset of these candidates are selected using spatial constraints on the assembly of spine candidates by formulating the selection problem as the maximal weighted independent set (MWIS) of a graph. The segmented book spines may be used by recognition systems (e.g., library automation), or rendered in computer graphics applications. We also propose a novel application that uses the segmented book spines to assist users in bookshelf reorganization or to modify the image to create a bookshelf with a tidier look. Our method was successfully tested on challenging sets of images.