6. Object Tracking

Overview

This chapter aims to show you how to track an object of your choice in an input video stream using various object trackers shipped along with the OpenCV library. We will start by understanding the basic idea behind object tracking and its applications in real life. Then, we will move on and look at the various filters present in OpenCV, understanding their algorithms, as well as their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, we will also have a look at another popular library – Dlib – and learn about the object trackers provided by it.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to create your own tracking application where you will use cascade classifiers to track a human throughout a video using trackers such as Meanshift, CAMShift, and more. You will also carry out a comparison between trackers (Dlib-based object trackers and OpenCV object tracking API) in this chapter's activity.