This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Multiple Classifier Systems, MCS 2007, held in Prague, Czech Republic in May 2007.

The 49 revised full papers presented together with 2 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from more than 80 initial submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on kernel-based fusion, applications, boosting, cluster and graph ensembles, feature subspace ensembles, multiple classifier system theory, intramodal and multimodal fusion of biometric experts, majority voting, and ensemble learning.

The two-volume set LNCS 4477 and 4478 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third Iberian Conference on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis, IbPRIA 2007, held in Girona, Spain in June 2007.

The 48 revised full papers and 108 revised poster papers presented together with 3 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 328 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on pattern recognition, human language technology, special architectures and industrial applications, motion analysis, image analysis, biomedical applications, shape and texture analysis, 3D, as well as image coding and processing.

Although research in computer vision for recognizing 3D objects in photographs dates back to the 1960s, progress was relatively slow until the turn of the millennium, and only now do we see the emergence of effective techniques for recognizing object categories with different appearances under large variations in the observation conditions. Tremendous progress has been achieved in the past five years, thanks largely to the integration of new data representations, such as invariant semi-local features, developed in the computer vision community with the effective models of data distribution and classification procedures developed in the statistical machine-learning community.

This volume is a post-event proceedings volume and contains selected papers based on presentations given, and vivid discussions held, during two workshops held in Taormina in 2003 and 2004. The main goals of these two workshops were to promote the creation of an international object recognition community, with common datasets and evaluation procedures, to map the state of the art and identify the main open problems and opportunities for synergistic research, and to articulate the industrial and societal needs and opportunities for object recognition research worldwide.

The 30 thoroughly revised papers presented are organized in the following topical sections: recognition of specific objects, recognition of object categories, recognition of object categories with geometric relations, and joint recognition and segmentation.

The two volume set LNCS 4291 and LNCS 4292 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Visual Computing, ISVC 2006, held in Lake Tahoe, NV, USA in November 2006.

The 65 revised full papers and 56 poster papers presented together with 57 papers of ten special tracks were carefully reviewed and selected from more than 280 submissions. The papers cover the four main areas of visual computing.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th Iberoamerican Congress on Pattern Recognition, CIARP 2006, held in Cancun, Mexico in November 2006. The 99 revised full papers presented together with three keynote articles were carefully reviewed and selected from 239 submissions. The papers cover ongoing research and mathematical methods.

The two volume set LNCS 4221 and LNCS 4222 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Natural Computation, ICNC 2006, held in Xi'an, China, in September 2006 as a joint event in federation with the Third International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery FSKD 2006 (LNAI 4223).

After a demanding review process 168 carefully revised full papers and 86 revised short papers were selected from 1915 submissions for presentation in two volumes. The first volume includes 130 papers related to artificial neural networks, natural neural systems and cognitive science, neural network applications, as well as evolutionary computation: theory and algorithms. The 124 papers in the second volume are orgainzed in topical sections on other topics in natural computation, natural computation techniques applications, hardware, and cross-disciplinary topics.

The two volume set LNCS 4141, and LNCS 4142 constitute the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition, ICIAR 2006, held in Povoa de Varzim, Portugal in September 2006.

The 71 revised full papers and 92 revised poster papers presented together with 2 invited lectures were carefully reviewed and selected from 389 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on image restoration and enhancement, image segmentation, image and video processing and analysis, image and video coding and encryption, image retrieval and indexing, motion analysis, and tracking in the first volume. The second volume contains topical sections on pattern recognition for image analysis, computer vision, biometrics, shape and matching, biomedical image analysis, brain imaging, remote sensing image processing, and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 28th Symposium of the German Association for Pattern Recognition, DAGM 2006. The book presents 32 revised full papers and 44 revised poster papers together with 5 invited papers. Topical sections include image filtering, restoration and segmentation, shape analysis and representation, recognition, categorization and detection, computer vision and image retrieval, machine learning and statistical data analysis, biomedical data analysis, and more.

The two-volume set LNCS 4141, and LNCS 4142 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition, ICIAR 2006. The volumes present 71 revised full papers and 92 revised poster papers together with 2 invited lectures. Volume I includes papers on image restoration and enhancement, image segmentation, image and video processing and analysis, image and video coding and encryption, image retrieval and indexing, and more.

The two volume set LNCS 4131 and LNCS 4132 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, ICANN 2006, held in Athens, Greece, in September 2006.

The 208 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 475 submissions. The 103 papers of the first volume are organized in topical sections on feature selection and dimension reduction for regression, learning algorithms, advances in neural network learning methods, ensemble learning, learning random neural networks and stochastic agents, hybrid architectures, self organization, connectionist cognitive science, cognitive machines, neural dynamics and complex systems, computational neuroscience, neural control, reinforcement learning and robotics applications, robotics, control, planning, as well as bio-inspired neural network on-chip implementation and applications. The second volume contains 105 contributions related to neural networks, semantic web technologies and multimedia analysis, bridging the semantic gap in multimedia machine learning approaches, signal and time series processing, data analysis, pattern recognition, visual attention algorithms and architectures for perceptional understanding and video coding, vision and image processing, computational finance and economics, neural computing in energy engineering, applications to biomedicine and bioinformatics, applications to security and market analysis, as well as real world applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Workshop on Structural and Syntactic Pattern Recognition, SSPR 2006 and the 6th International Workshop on Statistical Techniques in Pattern Recognition, SPR 2006, held jointly in Hong Kong, China in August 2006 as a satellite event of the 18th International Conference of Pattern Recognition, ICPR 2006.

The 38 revised full papers and 61 revised poster papers presented together with 4 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 217 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on image analysis, vision, character recognition, bayesian networks, graph-based methods, similarity and feature extraction, image and video, vision, kernel-based methods, recognition and classification, similarity and feature extraction, document analysis, graph-based methods, recognition and classification, image analysis, facial image analysis, representation, feature selection, clustering, multiple classifier systems, recognition and classification, unsupervised learning, dimensionality, representation, biometrics, and applications.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 17th Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching, CPM 2006, held in Barcelona, Spain, July 2006. The book presents 33 revised full papers together with 3 invited talks, organized in topical sections on data structures, indexing data structures, probabilistic and algebraic techniques, applications in molecular biology, string matching, data compression, and dynamic programming.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Graphics Recognition, GREC 2005, held in Hong Kong, China, August 2005. The book presents 37 revised full papers together with a panel discussion report, organized in topical sections on engineering drawings vectorization and recognition, symbol recognition, graphic image analysis, structural document analysis, sketching and online graphics recognition, curves and shape processing, and graphics recognition contest results.

These are the proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV 2006), the premium European conference on computer vision, held in Graz, Austria, in May 2006. Inresponsetoourconferencecall, wereceived811papers, thelargestnumber of submissions so far. Finally, 41 papers were selected for podium presentation and 151 for presentation in poster sessions (a 23. 67% acceptance rate). The double-blind reviewing process started by assigning each paper to one of the 22 area chairs, who then selected 3 reviewers for each paper. After the reviewswerereceived, theauthorswereo?eredthepossibilitytoprovidefeedback on the reviews. On the basis of the reviews and the rebuttal of the authors, the area chairs wrote the initial consolidation report for each paper. Finally, all the area chairs attended a two-day meeting in Graz, where all decisions on acceptance/rejectionweremade. At that meeting, the areachairsresponsiblefor similar sub-?elds thoroughly evaluated the assigned papers and discussed them in great depth. Again, all decisions were reached without the knowledge of the authors' identity. We are fully aware of the fact that reviewing is always also subjective, and that somegood papers might havebeen overlooked;however, we tried our best to apply a fair selection process. The conference preparation went smoothly thanks to several people. We ?rst wish to thank the ECCV Steering Committee for entrusting us with the orga- zationoftheconference. Wearegratefultotheareachairs, whodidatremendous job in selecting the papers, and to more than 340 ProgramCommittee members and 220 additional reviewers for all their professional e?orts

The four-volume set comprising LNCS volumes 3951/3952/3953/3954 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Computer Vision, ECCV 2006. The 192 papers presented cover the entire range of current issues in computer vision. The papers are organized in topical sections on recognition, statistical models and visual learning, 3D reconstruction and multi-view geometry, energy minimization, tracking and motion, segmentation, shape from X, visual tracking, face detection and recognition, and more.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Artificial Evolution, EA 2005, held in Lille, France, in October 2005. The 26 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 78 submissions. The papers cover all aspects of artificial evolution: genetic programming, machine learning, combinatorial optimization, co-evolution, self-assembling, artificial life and bioinformatics.

Object detection and recognition is a topic of significant interest in computer and robot vision. It is required in most applications of computational vision, for example, biometric systems, medical imaging, intelligent cars, factory automation, and image databases.

One of the major challenges in designing object recognition systems is to construct methods that are fast and capable of operating on standard computer platforms. The more developed such systems become, the more urgent becomes the need for a pre-selection system that enables subsequent processing to focus only on relevant data. One mechanism to achieve this is visual attention: it selects regions in a visual scene that are most likely to contain objects of interest. The field of visual attention is currently the focus of much research for both biological and artificial systems.

This monograph presents a complete computational system for visual attention and object detection: VOCUS (Visual Object detection with a CompUtational attention System) is a system capable of automatically selecting regions of interest in images and detecting specific objects. It represents a major step forward on integrating data-driven and model-driven information into a single framework. Additionally, the volume contains an extensive review of the literature on visual attention, detailed evaluations of VOCUS in different settings, and applications of the system in the context of object recognition and robotics.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the First International Workshop on Spatial Coherence for Visual Motion Analysis, 2004, held in May 2004. The eleven revised full research papers presented went through two rounds of reviewing and improvement. The papers in this volume cover a wide range in the field of motion analysis that is a central problem in computer vision. The workshop examined techniques for integrating spatial coherence constraints during motion analysis of image sequences.

Statistical pattern recognition relates to the use of statistical techniques for analysing data measurements in order to extract information and make justified decisions. It is a very active area of study and research, which has seen many advances in recent years. Applications such as data mining, web searching, multimedia data retrieval, face recognition, and cursive handwriting recognition, all require robust and efficient pattern recognition techniques.

This third edition provides an introduction to statistical pattern theory and techniques, with material drawn from a wide range of fields, including the areas of engineering, statistics, computer science and the social sciences. The book has been updated to cover new methods and applications, and includes a wide range of techniques such as Bayesian methods, neural networks, support vector machines, feature selection and feature reduction techniques.Technical descriptions and motivations are provided, and the techniques are illustrated using real examples.

"Statistical Pattern Recognition," 3rd Edition: Provides a self-contained introduction to statistical pattern recognition.Includes new material presenting the analysis of complex networks.Introduces readers to methods for Bayesian density estimation.Presents descriptions of new applications in biometrics, security, finance and condition monitoring.Provides descriptions and guidance for implementing techniques, which will be invaluable to software engineers and developers seeking to develop real applicationsDescribes mathematically the range of statistical pattern recognition techniques.Presents a variety of exercises including more extensive computer projects.

The in-depth technical descriptions make the book suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate students in statistics, computer science and engineering. "Statistical Pattern Recognition" is also an excellent reference source for technical professionals. Chapters have been arranged to facilitate implementation of the techniques by software engineers and developers in non-statistical engineering fields.

www.wiley.com/go/statistical_pattern_recognition

This book is the first of its kind to discuss error estimation with a model-based approach. From the basics of classifiers and error estimators to distributional and Bayesian theory, it covers important topics and essential issues pertaining to the scientific validity of pattern classification. Error Estimation for Pattern Recognition focuses on error estimation, which is a broad and poorly understood topic that reaches all research areas using pattern classification. It includes model-based approaches and discussions of newer error estimators such as bolstered and Bayesian estimators. This book was motivated by the application of pattern recognition to high-throughput data with limited replicates, which is a basic problem now appearing in many areas. The first two chapters cover basic issues in classification error estimation, such as definitions, test-set error estimation, and training-set error estimation. The remaining chapters in this book cover results on the performance and representation of training-set error estimators for various pattern classifiers. Additional features of the book include: - The latest results on the accuracy of error estimation - Performance analysis of re-substitution, cross-validation, and bootstrap error estimators using analytical and simulation approaches - Highly interactive computer-based exercises and end-of-chapter problems This is the first book exclusively about error estimation for pattern recognition. Ulisses M. Braga Neto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, USA. He received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Braga Neto received an NSF CAREER Award for his work on error estimation for pattern recognition with applications in genomic signal processing. He is an IEEE Senior Member. Edward R. Dougherty is a Distinguished Professor, Robert F. Kennedy '26 Chair, and Scientific Director at the Center for Bioinformatics and Genomic Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University, USA. He is a fellow of both the IEEE and SPIE, and he has received the SPIE Presidents Award. Dr. Dougherty has authored several books including Epistemology of the Cell: A Systems Perspective on Biological Knowledge and Random Processes for Image and Signal Processing (Wiley-IEEE Press).

The interconnected ideas of inductive databases and constraint-based mining are appealing and have the potential to radically change the theory and practice of data mining and knowledge discovery. This book reports on the results of the European IST project "cInQ" (consortium on knowledge discovery by Inductive Queries) and its final workshop entitled Constraint-Based Mining and Inductive Databases organized in Hinterzarten, Germany in March 2004.

Consistent advances in biometrics help to address problems that plague traditional human recognition methods and offer significant promise for applications in security as well as general convenience. In particular, newly evolving systems can measure multiple physiological or behavioral traits and thereby increase overall reliability that much more. Multimodal Biometrics provides an accessible, focused examination of the science and technology behind multimodal human recognition systems, as well as their ramifications for security systems and other areas of application. After clearly introducing multibiometric systems, the book demonstrates the noteworthy advantages of these systems over their traditional and unimodal counterparts. In addition, the work describes the various scenarios possible when consolidating evidence from multiple biometric systems.This authoritative, comprehensive volume on multimodal biometric systems concisely and clearly outlines their great promise for higher reliability than conventional human verification systems. will need to know and use the concepts, principles, and methods of advanced biometrics.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Biometrics, ICB 2006, held in Hong Kong, China in January 2006. The book includes 104 revised full papers covering such areas of biometrics as the face, fingerprint, iris, speech and signature, biometric fusion and performance evaluation, gait, keystrokes, and more. In addition the results of the Face Authentication Competition (FAC 2006) are also announced in this volume.

This book presents the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Automated Deduction in Geometry, ADG 2004, held at Gainesville, FL, USA in September 2004.

The 12 revised full papers presented aurvey current issues theoretical and methodological topics as well as applications thereof - in particular automated geometry theorem proving, automated geometry problem solving, problems of dynamic geometry, and an object-oriented language for geometric objects.

CSCR, which is the ?rst nationalcenter in the countryin this domain, has many important objectives including distance learning, establishing linkage to premier institutes/industries, organizing specialized courses, as well as conducting f- damental research. The conference proceedings of PReMI-05, containing rigorouslyreviewed - pers, is published by Springer in its prestigious Lecture Notes in Computer S- ence (LNCS) series. Di?erent professional sponsors and funding agencies (both national and international) came forward to support this event for its success. These include, International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR); Web IntelligenceConsortium(WIC); Institute ofElectricalandElectronics Engine- ing (IEEE): International Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics (CIMPA), France;Webel, GovernmentofWestBengalITCompany;DepartmentofScience & Technology (DST), India; Council of Scienti?c & Industrial Research (CSIR), India.Toencourageparticipationofbrightstudentsandyoungresearchers, some fellowships were provided. I believe the participants found PReMI-05 an academically memorable and intellectually stimulating event. It enabled young researchers to interact and establish contacts with well-known experts in the ?eld I hope that you have all enjoyed staying in Calcutta (now Kolkata), the city of Joy.