Selective Visual Attention: Computational Models and Applications

1.5 Scope of This Book

During the past decades, research on visual selective attention has received a great deal of interest from both biologists and engineers. Computational models of visual attention are being touted as an exciting new methodology for computer vision and image processing due to the apparent ability to imitate human vision and overcome the challenging issues of computer vision. The content described in this book has been prepared for most students and professionals who are entering or already working in the related areas. We aim to help readers to understand the issues relevant to visual attention in a systematic way, and to be able to select or build an attention model suitable for their applications based upon the knowledge and insight delivered in this book. In addition, we also provides many examples and case studies for scientists, engineers and students on how to solve various problems based upon scientific first principles and practical requirements.

A proper understanding of the biological aspects of visual attention requires knowledge in a variety of fields including the structure of the biological visual system in anatomy, the important relevant conclusions in psychology and physiology, signal and information theory and artificial neural networks. Thus, Part I of this book presents the necessary introduction to the concepts of attention and related knowledge, so that beginners without prior related knowledge can learn the necessary background. Part II ...