Automated tracking and retaining of an articulated object in a sequence of image frames

The invention relates to automated tracking and retaining of an articulated object in a sequence of image frames. Various aspects of an image-processing apparatus and method to track and retain an articulated object in a sequence of image frames are disclosed. The image-processing apparatus is configured to segment each image frame in the sequence of image frames into different segmented regions that corresponds to different super-pixels. An articulated object in a first motion state is detected by non-zero temporal derivatives between a first image frame and a second image frame. A first connectivity graph of a first set of super-pixels of the first image frame, is constructed. A second connectivity graph of a second set of super-pixels of the second image frame, is further constructed. Acomplete object mask of the articulated object in a second motion state is generated based on the first connectivity graph and the second connectivity graph, where at least a portion of the articulated object is stationary i