Intel software accelerates development of 'Human Like' computer vision

INTEL SOFTWARE ACCELERATES DEVELOPMENT OF 

'HUMAN-LIKE' COMPUTER VISION



NIHZNIY NOVGOROD, Russia, Dec. 11, 2001 -- Intel Corporation researchers

have released at no cost software that allows developers to build

computers that can view the world the way people do -- in stereo.

The software, which enables computers to recognize 'depth' as well as

'flat' images, enhances a wide variety of vision applications including

gesture recognition, object tracking and face recognition. The software is

available through the Open Source Computer Vision Library (OpenCV 2.1), a

toolbox of over 500 imaging functions that helps researchers develop

computer vision applications.

Existing 2D computer vision applications recognize scenes as single flat

color fields. The new stereoscopic code will enable computers to use depth

information to breakout individual objects and surfaces in a scene. In

addition, the new 2.1 release includes an optional interface so all OpenCV

functions can be imported into Matlab*, one of the most widely used

software development tools for computer vision research. 

"Intel wants to make computers aware of the visual world. Until we

introduced OpenCV last year, the lack of common tools kept this from

happening," said Justin Rattner, Intel Fellow and director of

Microprocessor Research, Intel Labs. "With the addition of stereo

capability and a Matlab interface, OpenCV 2.1 is certain to drive an

explosion of vision-based applications, such as toys that respond to a

child's movements and monitors that warn safety and security people of

life-threatening behavior."



Accelerating Research Into New Uses

Faster microprocessors, falling camera prices and ten times more video

capture bandwidth from technologies like USB 2 are all enabling real-time

computer vision algorithms to run on standard PCs. The computer vision

library is designed to increase innovation in this field by providing

source code for a wide range of computer vision and imaging functions. In

the first year since its release, OpenCV has seen over 75,000 downloads of

code and has attracted more than 2,000 registered members to its user

group.



"OpenCV implements a huge amount of standard and advanced image processing

techniques. Until now most companies spent a lot of time implementing

those well-known techniques. With OpenCV we now have access to a

well-implemented version that is fast and reliable. Because it is open

source, it gives us confidence in the code and we know we can make local

modifications if necessary," said Hansjörg Gärtner, project manager,

Inspeck*.



Developers are using OpenCV code in applications ranging from toys to

industrial manufacturing. This open source software release includes C

source code for all of the library's functionality and a royalty-free

redistribution license. The OpenCV main website is located at:

http://www.intel.com/research/mrl/research/opencv/.




Anyone interested in joining the user group needs to register with Yahoo groups
at

http://groups.yahoo.com/ and then can
subscribe by sending email to

OpenCV-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.



Intel has developed a uniquely decentralized research model with

over 80 labs situated around the world. The bulk of the OpenCV software

team resides Intel's Software Development Center in Nihzniy Novgorod,

Russia. Established in 1999, the center currently employees over 100

computer research scientists and engineers working in areas such as

computer graphics, vision, media, Bayesian networks, compilers and tools

research. 

Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of

computer, networking and communications products. Additional information

about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.





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