Mathematical Foundations of Image Processing and Analysis, Volume 1

Preface

The era of imaging sciences and technologies

The important place of images in the modern world is undeniable. They are intimately integrated into our organic life (“visual perception” is particularly well developed in human beings). They are frequently involved in our daily life (magazines, newspapers, telephones, televisions and video games, etc.), personal life (medical imaging, biological imaging and photographs, etc.), professional life (plant control, office automation, remote monitoring, scanners and video conferencing), etc. They are not confined to the various technological sectors, but they are vectors of observations and investigations of matter at very small scales (electron microscopes and scanning probe microscopes, etc.), or of the universe at very large scales (telescopes and space probes, etc.), sometimes leading major scientific discoveries. Mankind is now able to see images of other worlds without going there (e.g. distant planets, stars and galaxies, or the surface terrain of the Earth) and worlds within (e.g. human organs, geological imaging, or atomic and molecular structures at the nanoscale level). From a technological point of view, this importance is enhanced by the performance of the systems of investigation by imaging and the powers of calculation of computers, which expanded considerably in the second half of the 20th Century, and that are still progressing, with both hardware and software advances.

The scope of Imaging Sciences and Technologies ...