1. An apparatus for performing geometric coarsening and segmenting of an image representable as a two-dimensional array of pixels comprising: a) a first engine operable to select every other column of the array to accumulate information contained therein into adjacent columns; b) a second engine operable to determine, for each pixel of each selected column, a similarity of said pixel with respect to a first set of nearest pixels of adjacent columns to form respective dependency values; c) a third engine operable to distribute, for each pixel of each selected column, information for said pixel to the first set of pixels of adjacent columns wherein said information from said pixel is accumulated, together with any existing information of said pixel, and weighted by the respective dependency values; d) a fourth engine operable to select every other row of the array for accumulating information contained therein into adjacent rows; e) a fifth engine operable to determine, for each pixel of each selected row, a similarity of said pixel with respect to a second set of nearest six pixels of adjacent rows to form respective dependency values; and f) a sixth engine operable to distribute, for each pixel of each selected row, information for said pixel to the second set of pixels of adjacent rows wherein said information from said pixel is accumulated, together with any existing information of said pixel, and weighted by the respective dependency values.