Abstract: In general, the present invention is directed to systems and methods for finding the gait parameters of an animal using video. The invention includes a system with a video camera coupled to a computer in which the computer is configured to automatically provide animal segmentation, foot identification, foot tracking, and gait parameter calculation. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention may use a treadmill apparatus with a transparent tread or belt for gait parameter calculation. A camera may be placed directly underneath the transparent tread such that the bottom view of the animal walking or running on the transparent tread is captured by the camera. A tilted mirror may also be placed directly underneath the transparent tread in order to reflect the bottom view images to the side where they are captured by a high-speed camera. Thus, the present invention is capable of automatically monitoring a video image to identify, track and classify the actions of various animals' feet within the image.

Abstract: In general, the present invention is directed to systems and methods for finding the position and shape of an object using video. The invention includes a system with a video camera coupled to a computer in which the computer is configured to automatically provide object segmentation and identification, object motion tracking (for moving objects), object position classification, and behavior identification. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention may use background subtraction for object identification and tracking, probabilistic approach with expectation-maximization for tracking the motion detection and object classification, and decision tree classification for behavior identification. Thus, the present invention is capable of automatically monitoring a video image to identify, track and classify the actions of various objects and the object's movements within the image. The image may be provided in real time or from storage.