2. What is Computer Vision?

I don’t know if you have come across this word - “Computer Vision” earlier, but, I am pretty sure you must have heard Machine Learning and other buzz words. What exactly is Computer Vision? If I were to explain a 5-year old or a general population in particular what this is, then I would say -

It’s the science of making computers intelligent using images and videos.

Yes, it is a science since there are a lot of algorithms involved and the field is expanding at an exponential rate. And since we primarily focus on Images and Videos and depth maps, it’s called vision, pertaining to the human visual sensory system. So, now you have a fair idea about what computer vision is in terms of definition. But, is that all about this field? That doesn’t rather cover the entire spectrum of applications! Next up, I would like to go about some important and specific areas of Computer Vision along with their applications and examples.

Point Cloud Renders of a Landscape
credits: ComputerVisionOnline

• 2.1 Image Classification
  • 2.1.1 What is Image Classification?
  • 2.1.2 Applications of Image Classification Algorithms
  • 2.1.3 Challenges faced by Image Classification Algorithms
• 2.2 Object Detection
  • 2.2.1 What is Object Detection?
  • 2.2.2 Applications of Object Detection Algorithms
  • 2.2.3 Challenges faced by Object Detection Algorithms
• 2.3 Image Segmentation
  • 2.3.1 What is Image Segmentation?
  • 2.3.2 Applications of Image Segmentation Algorithms
  • 2.3.3 Challenges faced by Image Segmentation Algorithms
• 2.4 Pose Estimation
  • 2.4.1 What is Pose Estimation?
  • 2.4.2 Applications of Pose Estimation Algorithms
  • 2.4.3 Challenges faced by Pose Estimation Algorithms
• 2.5 Image Captioning
  • 2.5.1 What is Image Captioning?
  • 2.5.2 Applications of Image Captioning Algorithms
  • 2.5.3 Challenges faced by Image Captioning Algorithms
• 2.6 Image Synthesis
  • 2.6.1 What is Image Synthesis?
  • 2.6.2 Applications of Image Synthesis Algorithms
  • 2.6.3 Challenges of Image Synthesis Algorithms