Image/video-based pattern analysis and HCI applications
The interests and goals of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) include understanding, designing, building and evaluating complex interactive systems, which involve disciplines, e.g., computer science, engineering, IT, and psychology to name a few. The need for natural and effective Human-Computer Interaction is increasingly important due to the prevalence of computers in human activities. Developments in image/video computing technologies are continuously driving a range of applications in supporting our collaborative and communicative needs both at work and at play. Computer vision and pattern recognition continue to play a dominant role in the HCI realm because image/video computing (such as body gesture recognition, facial expression analysis, etc.) provides most natural visual communication channel for humans and machines. The availability of low-cost camera technology has also led to a quickly increased use of visual cues in HCI.
This special issue is particularly interested in new advances in vision techniques for intelligent HCI applications. We solicited original contributions, of leading researchers and practitioners from academia as well as industry, which address a wide range of theoretical and application issues in vision-based HCI. A total of 26 full papers had been submitted. To ensure the high quality, all submissions have been refereed strictly by at least two experts in the related fields based on the criteria of originality, significance, quality and clarity. There are in total 12 papers accepted for publication in this special issue, which span a variety of topics such as biometrics recognition, object detection and tracking, human motion and action recognition, body pose reconstruction, surveillance video retrieval, facial expression recognition, sign tracking and recognition, etc.
Taking this opportunity, we would like to thank all the authors who submitted their papers for their efforts and interest. This special issue would not have been possible otherwise. The guest editors would also like to deliver their sincere thanks to the reviewers for their careful and valuable comments on the submitted manuscripts and for their detailed and helpful suggestions about improving the manuscripts. We are also very grateful to the Editors-in-Chief of this journal, in particular Dr. Gabriella Sanniti di Baja, and the Elsevier publisher for their support and editing guidance during the preparation and publication of this special issue.