001/**
002 * Copyright (c) 2011, The University of Southampton and the individual contributors.
003 * All rights reserved.
004 *
005 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
006 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
007 *
008 *   *  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
009 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
010 *
011 *   *  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
012 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
013 *      and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
014 *
015 *   *  Neither the name of the University of Southampton nor the names of its
016 *      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
017 *      software without specific prior written permission.
018 *
019 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
020 * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
021 * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
022 * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
023 * ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
024 * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
025 * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
026 * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
027 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
028 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
029 */
030/**
031 * 
032 */
033package org.openimaj.video.processing.tracking;
034
035import java.util.List;
036
037import org.openimaj.math.geometry.shape.Rectangle;
038
039/**
040 *      An interface for classes that can track objects in video (or image streams).
041 *
042 *      @author David Dupplaw (dpd@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
043 *      
044 *      @created 14 Oct 2011
045 *
046 *      @param <O> The type of objects that will be tracked 
047 *      @param <I> The type of image in which the objects will be tracked
048 */
049public interface ObjectTracker<O,I>
050{
051        /**
052         *      Initialise the tracking with the given target area in the given image.
053         *  
054         *      @param bounds The target area to track in the image
055         *      @param image The image to initialise the tracking with
056         *      @return A list of found objects (may be empty if no object found);
057         *              should not be null.
058         */
059        public List<O> initialiseTracking( Rectangle bounds, I image );
060
061        /**
062         *      Track the object in the image.
063         *  
064         *      @param image The image to continue tracking the object within.
065         *      @return The list of objects found in the image
066         */
067        public List<O> trackObject( I image );
068        
069}