Image analysis for digital cameras

Raising photography to a higher level

Worldwide shipments of digital cameras have been growing at double-digit rates, and revenues are in the billions of dollars. But for all of their convenience, digital cameras still perform in many of the same ways that traditional film cameras do. Namely, they capture 2-dimensional images. This research seeks to raise digital photography to a higher level. If successful, it would enable cameras to “recognize” individual objects. Editing a photo would become much easier, and a camera could even automatically enhance photographs-by removing unattractive shadows created by the flash, blurring a background, or intensifying the colors of a subject. The rapidly expanding digital photography market makes this project a particularly exciting one.