The widely used term <B>Computer Vision</B> applies to when computers are substituted for human visual information processing. As Real-world objects, except for characters, symbols, figures and photographs created by people, are 3-dimensional (3-D), their two-dimensional (2-D) images obtained by camera are produced by compressing 3-D information to 2-D. Many methods of 2-D image processing and pattern recognition have been developed and widely applied to industrial and medical processing, etc. Research work enabling computers to recognize 3-D objects by 3-D information extracted from 2-D images has been carried out in artificial intelligent robotics. Many techniques have been developed and some applied practically in scene analysis or 3-D measurement. These practical applications are based on image sensing, image processing, pattern recognition, image measurement, extraction of 3-D information, and image understanding. New techniques are constantly appearing. The title of this special issue is <B>Vision</B>, and it features 8 papers from basic computer vision theory to industrial applications. These papers include the following: Kohji Kamejima proposes a method to detect self-similarity in random image fields - the basis of human visual processing. Akio Nagasaka et al. developed a way to identify a real scene in real time using run-length encoding of video feature sequences. This technique will become a basis for active video recording and new robotic machine vision. Toshifumi Honda presents a method for visual inspection of solder joint by 3-D image analysis - a very important issue in the inspection of printed circuit boards. Saburo Okada et al. contribute a new technique on simultaneous measurement of shape and normal vector for specular objects. These methods are all useful for obtaining 3-D information. Masato Nakajima presents a human face identification method for security monitoring using 3-D gray-level information. Kenji Terada et al. propose a method of automatic counting passing people using image sensing. These two technologies are very useful in access control. Yoji. Ogawa presents a new image processing method for automatic welding in turbid water under a non-preparatory environment. Liu Wei et al. develop a method for detection and management of cutting-tool wear using visual sensors. We are certain that all of these papers will contribute greatly to the development of vision systems in robotics and mechatronics.
Editorial introduction to the special issue on “Image Understanding for Real-World Distributed Video Networks” – Computer Vision and Image Understanding Journal
