EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing

  Special Issue on

  Image Perception

  Call for Papers

Perception is a complex process that involves brain activities at different
levels. The availability of models for the representation and interpretation
of the sensory information opens up new research avenues that cut across
neuroscience, imaging, information engineering, and modern robotics.

The goal of the multidisciplinary field of perceptual signal processing
is to identify the features of the stimuli that determine their ^Óperception,^Ô
namely ^Óa single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a
stimulus is present,^Ô and to derive associated computational models that
can be generalized.

In the case of vision, the stimuli go through a complex analysis chain
along the so-called ^Óvisual pathway,^Ô starting with the encoding by the
photoreceptors in the retina (low-level processing) and ending with cognitive
mechanisms (high-level processes) that depend on the task being performed.

Accordingly, low-level models are concerned with image ^Órepresentation^Ô
and aim at emulating the way the visual stimulus is encoded by the early
stages of the visual system as well as capturing the varying sensitivity
to the features of the input stimuli; high-level models are related to
image ^Óinterpretation^Ô and allow to predict the performance of a human
observer in a given predefined task.

A global model, accounting for both such bottom-up and top-down approaches,
would enable the automatic interpretation of the visual stimuli based on both
their low-level features and their semantic content.

Among the main image processing fields that would take advantage of such
models are feature extraction, content-based image description and retrieval,
model-based coding, and the emergent domain of medical image perception.

The goal of this special issue is to provide original contributions
in the field of image perception and modeling.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

 o Perceptually plausible mathematical bases for the representation
   of visual information (static and dynamic)
 o Modeling nonlinear processes (masking, facilitation) and their
   exploitation in the imaging field (compression, enhancement,
   and restoration)
 o Beyond early vision: investigating the pertinence and potential
   of cognitive models (feature extraction, image quality)
 o Stochastic properties of complex natural scenes (static, dynamic,
   colored) and their relationships with perception
 o Perception-based models for natural (static and dynamic) textures.
   Theoretical formulation and psychophysical validation
 o Applications in the field of biomedical imaging (medical image
   perception)

 Authors should follow the EURASIP JASP manuscript format
 described at the journal's web site http://www.hindawi.com/journals/asp/
 Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their
 complete manuscript through the EURASIP JASP's manuscript
 tracking system at journal's web site, according to the
 following timetable.

  Manuscript Due           December 1, 2005
  Acceptance Notification  April 1, 2006
  Final Manuscript Due     July 1, 2006
  Publication Date         3nd Quarter, 2006

GUEST EDITORS:

 Gloria Menegaz, Department of Information Engineering, University of Siena,
 Siena, Italy; menegaz@dii.unisi.it

 Guang-Zhong Yang, Department of Computing, Engineering Imperial College
 London, London, UK; gzy@doc.ic.ac.uk

 Maria Concetta Morrone, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano,
 Italy; concetta@in.cnr.it

 Stefan Winkler, Genista Corporation, Montreux, Switzerland,
 stefan.winkler@genista.com

 Javier Portilla, Department of Computer Science and Artificial
 Intelligence (DECSAI), Universidad de Granada, Granada,
 Spain; javier@decsai.ugr.es