Journal on Applied Signal Processing - 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 “perception,” namely “a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present,” 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 “visual pathway,” 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 “representation” 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 “interpretation” 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):

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

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

Manuscript Due: January 1, 2005
Acceptance Notification: April 1, 2006
Final Manuscript Due: July 1, 2006
Publication Date: 3rd Quarter, 2006

Guest Editors:
Gloria Menegaz, Department of Information Engineering, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Guang-Zhong Yang, Department of Computing, Engineering Imperial College London, London, UK
Maria Concetta Morrone, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy
Stefan Winkler, Genista Corporation, Montreux, Switzerland
Javier Portilla, Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (DECSAI), Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain