This book constitutes the proceedings of the First International Workshop on Biometric Authentication, BIOMET 2014, which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in June 2014. The 16 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 21 submissions. Additionally, this volume also contains 5 invited papers. The papers cover a range of topics in the field gait and behaviour analysis; iris analysis; speech recognition; 3D ear recognition; face and facial attributes analysis; handwriting and signature recognition; and multimodal and soft biometrics.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the workshops held withthe 17th International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing, ICIAP 2013, held in Naples, Italy, in September 2013. The proceedings include papers from the five individual workshops focusing on topics of interest to the pattern recognition, image analysis, and computer vision communities, exploring emergent research directions or spotlight cross-disciplinary links with related fields and / or application areas."

The following are the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Perception held in Pavia, Italy, on September 27-30, 1993, under the auspices of four institutions: the Group of Cybernetic and Biophysics (GNCB)s of the National Research Council (CNR), the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AI * IA), the Italian Association of Psychology (AlP), and the Italian Chapter of the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR). The theme of this third workshop was: "Human and Machine Vision: Analogies and Divergencies." A wide spectrum of topics was covered, ranging from neurophysiology, to computer architecture, to psychology, to image understanding, etc. For this reason the structure of this workshop was quite different from those of the first two held in Parma (1991), and Trieste (1992). This time the workshop was composed of just eight modules, each one consisting of two invited lectures (dealing with vision in nature and machines, respectively) and a common panel discussion (including the two lecturers and three invited panellists).

The following are the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Human and Machine Perception held in Pavia, Italy, on September 14 -17, 1998. This edition has been under the auspices of two Institutions: the Cybernetic and Biophysics Group (GNCB) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Centro Interdipartimentale di Scienze Cognitive, of Pavia University and the Centro Interdipartimentale Tecnologie della Conoscenza, of Palermo University. A wide spectrum of topics is covered in this series, ranging from computer perception to psychology and physiology of perception, for analysing and comparing biological and artificial approaches. The theme of this workshop was focused on "Emergence, Attention and Creativity". The workshop structure consisted of five modules each one composed of two invited lectures (dealing with solutions in nature and machines respectively) and a panel discussion. The lectures focused on presenting the state-of-the-art and outlining open questions. In particular, they sought to stress links, suggesting possible synergies between different cultural areas. The panel discussion was conceived as a forum for an open debate, briefly introduced by each panellist, and mainly aimed at deeper investigation for the different approaches and strictly related topics. The panellists were asked to prepare a few statements on hot-points, which were delivered in advance to the participants as a guide for a qualified discussion.

Computer vision deals with the problem of manipulating information contained in large quantities of sensory data, where raw data emerge from the transducing 6 7 sensors at rates between 10 to 10 pixels per second. Conventional general purpose computers are unable to achieve the computation rates required to op erate in real time or even in near real time, so massively parallel systems have been used since their conception in this important practical application area. The development of massively parallel computers was initially character ized by efforts to reach a speedup factor equal to the number of processing elements (linear scaling assumption). This behavior pattern can nearly be achieved only when there is a perfect match between the computational struc ture or data structure and the system architecture. The theory of hierarchical modular systems (HMSs) has shown that even a small number of hierarchical levels can sizably increase the effectiveness of very large systems. In fact, in the last decade several hierarchical architectures that support capabilities which can overcome performances gained with the assumption of linear scaling have been proposed. Of these architectures, the most commonly considered in com puter vision is the one based on a very large number of processing elements (PEs) embedded in a pyramidal structure. Pyramidal architectures supply the same image at different resolution lev els, thus ensuring the use of the most appropriate resolution for the operation, task, and image at hand.

Proceedings of the Fifth International School on Neural Networks "E.R. Caianiello" on Visual Attention MechaProceedings of the Fifth International School on Neural Networks "E.R. Caianiello" on Visual Attention Mechanisms, held 23-28 October 2000 in Vietri sul Mare, Italy.nisms, held 23-28 October 2000 in Vietri sul Mare, Italy. The book covers a number of broad themes relevant to visual attention, ranging from computer vision to psychology and physiology of vision. The main theme of the book is the attention processes of vision systems and it aims to point out the analogies and the divergences of biological vision with the frameworks introduced by computer scientists in artificial vision.

The following are the proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Human and Machine Perception held in Palermo, Italy, on June 20 -23, 2000, under the auspices of three Institutions: the Cybernetic and Biophysics Group (GNCB) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the two Inter-Department Centers of Cognitive Sciences of Palermo and Pavia University respectively. A broad spectrum of topics are covered in this series, ranging from computer perception to psychology and physiology of perception. The theme of this workshop on Human and Machine Perception was focused on Thinking, Deciding, and Acting. As in the past editions the final goal has been the analysis and the comparison of biological and artificial solutions. The focus of the lectures has been on presenting the state-of-the-art and outlining open questions. In particular, they sought to stress links, suggesting possible synergies between the different cultural areas. The panel discussion has been conceived as a forum for an open debate, briefly introduced by each panelist, and mainly aimed at deeper investigation of the different approaches to perception and strictly related topics. The panelists were asked to prepare a few statements on hot-points as a guide for discussion. These statements were delivered to the participants together with the final program, for a more qualified discussion.

This book contains the proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop held in Maratea (Italy), May 5-9, 1986 on Pyramidal Systems for Image Processing and Computer Vision. We had 40 participants from 11 countries playing an active part in the workshop and all the leaders of groups that have produced a prototype pyramid machine or a design for such a machine were present. Within the wide field of parallel architectures for image processing a new area was recently born and is growing healthily: the area of pyramidally structured multiprocessing systems. Essentially, the processors are arranged in planes (from a base to an apex) each one of which is generally a reduced (usually by a power of two) version of the plane underneath: these processors are horizontally interconnected (within a plane) and vertically connected with "fathers" (on top planes) and "children" on the plane below. This arrangement has a number of interesting features, all of which were amply discussed in our Workshop including the cellular array and hypercube versions of pyramids. A number of projects (in different parts of the world) are reported as well as some interesting applications in computer vision, tactile systems and numerical calculations.

For the third time the Italian Group on Pattern Recogni tion has organized an International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing (lAP) gathering together the most active groups working in this area in our country. The first International Conference lAP was held in Pavia (1980) and the second one in Selva di Fasano (1982). A selected set of distinguished speakers has been invited to talk about their personal experience and views on industrial applications (H Freeman), the critical analysis of medical image processing (D Rutovitz), the advances of robot vision languages (M Silva) and the availability of AI technology for imI?roving the performance of PR and IP programs (J M Chassery). Four different areas have been covered by the papers submitted and refereed) to the conference first and to a scientific committee next, namely IP Techniques, Multiprocessor Architectures, Robot Vision and IP Applications. A final paper giving the results of a census of the Italian groups is provided showing, with some detail, typical research lines as pursued in working groups both at the University and Industry. About 39 groups are presently active in 12 different places of the peninsula.

Proceedings of the Fifth International School on Neural Networks "E.R. Caianiello" on Visual Attention MechaProceedings of the Fifth International School on Neural Networks "E.R. Caianiello" on Visual Attention Mechanisms, held 23-28 October 2000 in Vietri sul Mare, Italy.nisms, held 23-28 October 2000 in Vietri sul Mare, Italy.

The book covers a number of broad themes relevant to visual attention, ranging from computer vision to psychology and physiology of vision. The main theme of the book is the attention processes of vision systems and it aims to point out the analogies and the divergences of biological vision with the frameworks introduced by computer scientists in artificial vision.

The following are the proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Human and Machine Perception held in Palermo, Italy, on June 20 -23, 2000, under the auspices of three Institutions: the Cybernetic and Biophysics Group (GNCB) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the two Inter-Department Centers of Cognitive Sciences of Palermo and Pavia University respectively. A broad spectrum of topics are covered in this series, ranging from computer perception to psychology and physiology of perception. The theme of this workshop on Human and Machine Perception was focused on Thinking, Deciding, and Acting. As in the past editions the final goal has been the analysis and the comparison of biological and artificial solutions. The focus of the lectures has been on presenting the state-of-the-art and outlining open questions. In particular, they sought to stress links, suggesting possible synergies between the different cultural areas. The panel discussion has been conceived as a forum for an open debate, briefly introduced by each panelist, and mainly aimed at deeper investigation of the different approaches to perception and strictly related topics. The panelists were asked to prepare a few statements on hot-points as a guide for discussion. These statements were delivered to the participants together with the final program, for a more qualified discussion.

The following are the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Human and Machine Perception held in Pavia, Italy, on September 14 -17, 1998. This edition has been under the auspices of two Institutions: the Cybernetic and Biophysics Group (GNCB) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Centro Interdipartimentale di Scienze Cognitive, of Pavia University and the Centro Interdipartimentale Tecnologie della Conoscenza, of Palermo University. A wide spectrum of topics is covered in this series, ranging from computer perception to psychology and physiology of perception, for analysing and comparing biological and artificial approaches. The theme of this workshop was focused on "Emergence, Attention and Creativity." The workshop structure consisted of five modules each one composed of two invited lectures (dealing with solutions in nature and machines respectively) and a panel discussion. The lectures focused on presenting the state-of-the-art and outlining open questions. In particular, they sought to stress links, suggesting possible synergies between different cultural areas. The panel discussion was conceived as a forum for an open debate, briefly introduced by each panellist, and mainly aimed at deeper investigation for the different approaches and strictly related topics. The panellists were asked to prepare a few statements on hot-points, which were delivered in advance to the participants as a guide for a qualified discussion.

The following are the proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Perception held in Pavia, Italy, on September 27-30, 1993, under the auspices of four institutions: the Group of Cybernetic and Biophysics (GNCB)s of the National Research Council (CNR), the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AI * IA), the Italian Association of Psychology (AlP), and the Italian Chapter of the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR). The theme of this third workshop was: "Human and Machine Vision: Analogies and Divergencies." A wide spectrum of topics was covered, ranging from neurophysiology, to computer architecture, to psychology, to image understanding, etc. For this reason the structure of this workshop was quite different from those of the first two held in Parma (1991), and Trieste (1992). This time the workshop was composed of just eight modules, each one consisting of two invited lectures (dealing with vision in nature and machines, respectively) and a common panel discussion (including the two lecturers and three invited panellists).

This book offers readers a broad view of research in some Western and Eastern European countries on pattern and signal analysis, and on coding, handling and measurement of images. It is a selection of refereed papers from two sources: first, a satellite conference within the biannual International Conference on Pattern Recognition held in Rome, November 14-17, 1988, and second, work done at the International Basic Laboratory on Image Processing and Computer Graphics, Berlin, GDR. The papers are grouped into three sections. The first section contains new proposals for the specific computation of particular features of digital images and the second section is devoted to the introduction and testing of general approaches to the solution of problems met in digital geometry, image coding, feature extraction and object classification. The third section illustrates some recent practical results obtained on real images specifically in character and speech recognition as well as in biomedicine. All the techniques illustrated in this book will find direct application in the near future. This book should interest and stimulate the reader, provoke new thoughts and encourage further research in this widely appealing field.

The following are thEURO:" proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Human and Machine Perception held in Trabia, Italy, on July 21~25, 1996, under the auspices of two Institutions: the Cybernetic and Biophysics Group (GNCB) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) and the 'Centro Interdipartimentale di Tecnologie della Conoscenza' ofPalenno University. A broad spectrum of topics are covered in this series, ranging from computer perception to psychology and physiology of perception (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.). The theme of this workshop was: "Human and Machine Perception: Information Fusion". The goal of information and sensory data fusion is to integrate internal knowledge with complementary and/or redundant information from many sensors to achieve (and maintain) a better knowledge of the environment. The mechanism behind the integration of information is one of the most difficult challenges in understanding human and robot perception. The workshop consisted of a pilot phase of eight leCtures introducing perception sensorialities in nature and artificial systems, and of five subsequent modules each consisting of two lectures (dealing with solutions in nature and machines respectively) and a panel discussion.

Artificial Vision is a rapidly growing discipline, aiming to build computational models of the visual functionalities in humans, as well as machines that emulate them. Visual communication in itself involves a numberof challenging topics with a dramatic impact on contemporary culture where human-computer interaction and human dialogue play a more and more significant role.
This state-of-the-art book brings together carefully selected review articles from world renowned researchers at the forefront of this exciting area. The contributions cover topics including image processing, computational geometry, optics, pattern recognition, and computer science. The book is divided into three sections. Part I covers active vision; Part II deals with the integration of visual with cognitive capabilities; and Part III concerns visual communication.
Artificial Vision will be essential reading for students and researchers in image processing, vision, and computer science who want to grasp the current concepts and future directions of this challenging field.
Key Features
* This state-of-the-art book brings together selected review articles and accounts of current projects from world-renowned researchers at the forefront of this exciting area; The contributions cover topics such as:
* psychology of perception
* image processing
* computational geometry
* visual knowledge representation and languages
* It is this truly multi-disciplinary approach that has produced successful theories and applications for the subject.

The exponential explosion of images and videos concerns everybody's common life, since this media is now present everywhere and in all human activities. Scientists, artists and engineers, in any field, need to be aware of the basic mechanisms that allow them to understand how images are essentially information carriers. Images bear a strong evocative power because their perception quickly brings into mind a number of related pictorial contents of past experiences and even of abstract concepts like pleasure, attraction or aversion. This book analyzes the visual hints, thanks to which images are generally interpreted, processed and exploited both by humans and computer programs.