Get Inspired – What is Machine Vision?

You find them in your smartphone, in drones, robots, attached on police uniforms, in your car and on the street corner – the video cameras. It’s actually getting hard to find an inch of the globe that isn’t visually recorded. This progress have given humanity both great opportunity and new challenges to tackle.

Machine Vision – welcome the seeing computer

Now it’s time for the machines to embrace the endless possibilities video technology can give. Machine Vision, or Computer Vision, refers to the ability of a computer to “see”. Machine vision occurs when the computer employs one or multiple video cameras, uses analog-to-digital conversion and digital process tracking. A method that has technological similarities with voice recognition.

The beauty of Machine Vision is that the computer or robot has the ability to collect and analyze data from an image. The computer is able to detect patterns, recognize a certain behavior, differentiate between objects and act upon the information in real time.

The industrial use of Machine Vision

So, how and where can this technology be a useful tool? Machine Vision applications are actually already a vital part of several industrial contexts. A striking example is the advanced surveillance systems that has been implemented to guarantee the safety of citizens in the biggest cities of the world. These surveillance cameras with Machine Vision are able to detect abnormal behaviors in public spaces and instantly report on the matter, without the need of active human involvement.

Medical applications and beyond

Other industrial and medical applications that use this technology are electronic component analysis, signature identification, optical character recognition, handwriting recognition, object recognition, pattern recognition, materials inspections, currency inspection, medical image analysis and drones.

In many cases the Machine Vision solution is far more sensitive than the human eye and therefore superior in comparison. Some of the these applications for example supports infrared (IR), ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray wavelengths.

Conclusion? The revolution will definitely be televised.

Imint have major experience in developing state-of-the-art industrial applications based on advanced video algorithms. Read more how we can help your company in the new age of Machine Vision.