System and method of foreground extraction for digital cameras

An apparatus comprising:

• a transmitter for projecting a high contrast textured infrared pattern into a field of view;
• a sensor of infrared light that captures first images of the field of view that contain the high contrast textured infrared pattern;
• control circuits coupled at least to the sensor;
• and
• a storage element coupled to the control circuits for storing the first images,
• wherein the control circuits compare a current frame received at the sensor to at least one of the stored images,
• wherein the control circuits generate a difference mask identifying portions in the current frame where there is a shift in a position of the high contrast textured infrared pattern relative to the one of the stored images that is caused by a single color object in the field of view,
• wherein the control circuits extract the difference mask as a surface image from the current frame,
• wherein the high contrast textured infrared pattern includes a randomly distributed pattern, and
• wherein a combination of a high contrast in and the randomly distributed pattern of the high contrast textured infrared pattern and generating the difference mask allows for discrimination of the surface image from shadows, light spots, and reflections in the current frame.