What is Computer Vision?

Vision is one of the most vital senses for humans, enabling us to perceive, understand, and interact with the world around us. In the natural world, variations of sight are present across different species, each uniquely adapted to its environment.

Inspired by this remarkable sense, researchers have been striving to create a version of sight for computers—allowing them to not just capture images, but to also comprehend and interpret the visual information they encounter.

This field of artificial intelligence, known as computer vision, seeks to equip machines with the ability to mimic human vision capabilities: to see, understand, and make sense of the world in a way that is useful and meaningful.

How does computer vision work?

At its core, computer vision is about enabling machines to interpret visual data in a way that approximates human vision. But how do computers, which inherently process numerical data, learn to "see" like us? 

The process begins with a sensing device, similar to our eyes, but for computers, it's a camera. The camera captures images or videos, which are then processed by the computer.

Using applications like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning, the computer analyzes and makes sense of the visual information, allowing it to "see" and interpret what is in the images or videos.

What are the functions of computer vision?

1. Image Segmentation: Image segmentation divides an image into different regions or segments, as seen in the visual where cyclists, cars, and other objects are highlighted in different colors. This helps systems distinguish between various elements in a scene.‍
2. Object Detection: Object detection identifies and locates objects within an image, like cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicles in traffic.
3. ‍Object Classification: Object classification categorizes detected objects into specific types which helps in understanding and responding to the environment.
4. Object Tracking: Object tracking follows the movement of objects across frames in a video. In traffic management, it’s used to monitor and track the movement of people or vehicles over time.

What is computer vision used for?

Computer vision in retail

There are many applications of computer vision in the retail industry, from malls to supermarkets, primarily for its ability to analyze customer behavior. Retail chains use computer vision to gain shopper insights, patterns and preferences, enabling them to boost sales through increasing customer engagement.

Additionally, computer vision is applied to tasks like empty shelf detection, ensuring more efficient resource allocation and inventory management.

Computer vision in security

In the security sector, AI in visual processing enhances surveillance systems by providing real-time action recognition allowing many applications like violence and anomaly detection.

Computer vision for safety is used in public spaces and private facilities to monitor activities, control access, and ensure a safer environment by quickly identifying potential risks.

Computer vision in agriculture

Agriculture leverages smart vision technology to optimize crop management and reduce resource usage. Farmers use crop health imaging features to detect diseases early, and automate harvesting processes, which leads to higher yields and more sustainable farming practices.

Computer vision in healthcare

Healthcare benefits from AI-powered vision through faster and more accurate diagnoses. It is applied in analyzing medical images like X-rays and MRIs to detect conditions such as tumors, and it also aids in precision robotic surgeries, improving patient outcomes.

Computer vision in transportation

In transportation, computer vision plays a crucial role in enhancing road safety and traffic management. It is applied across both private vehicles and public transportation systems to improve smart mobility.

It provides numerous applications such as active traffic management, intersection monitoring, and passenger counting.