Direct image processing using artificial retina chips

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses direct image processing using artificial retina chips. It discusses the significant progress that has been achieved in recent years while working toward the ambitious goal of implementing powerful vision chips, yielding devices that excel at specific tasks and devices that perform versatile processing functions. It also explains the extent to which artificial retinas, based on arrays of variable sensitivity photodetectors (VSPDs), can be employed to provide fast and flexible image processing functions. Moreover, the chapter also discusses how to utilize the device characteristics of VSPDs for image processing, and how to take advantage of fast hardware neural networks for post-processing. It introduces approaches to direct image processing and outlines the direct image processing in VSPD arrays. Both preprocessing operations, such as filtering and transformation, and data reduction for fast and simplified post processing are described. Finally, the chapter concludes with an outlook on promising directions for future work, pointing out the potential that lies in the fusion of the optical and electronic approaches to vision processing.

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