What is Computer Vision and How it Works

Although the first studies in computer vision began in the 1960s, the most active development of this technology has occurred in the last decade due to the general technical progress in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Computer Vision (CV) is a technology whose main task is to automate the recognition of visual images and search for objects in pictures or videos. Part of computer vision is also video analytics (Video Content Analysis) — extracting data such as identifying people, objects, events, geolocation, date and time, from past (archive management, obtaining legal evidence), present (security monitoring, video stream compression), and future video recordings (forecasting based on archival and current video recordings).

Computer vision was created to extract vital information from photographic images or video recordings. The most common tasks solved by computer vision are object recognition in the frame, determining their direction of movement, comparison with other objects, obstacle detection, and an important task is the calibration of camera sets and optical systems. Computer vision consists of elements such as lighting and optics (lenses and objectives), a sensor matrix for projecting the image, and a system for processing the received image. Note that sometimes lighting is not needed at all, as computer vision can extract information from ranges inaccessible to the human eye. The main principle of computer vision is as follows: the optical system projects the received image in the form of a spectrum, visible or invisible to the human eye, onto the sensor matrix, after which the camera matrix converts the image into digital form, which is then sent to the processor for further analysis.

The resulting digital image consists of pixels, and their density affects the image quality — if the image has a high pixel density, it means that the measurements of computer vision will be more accurate.

Nowadays, computer vision is implemented in various areas of life, such as pharmaceuticals, automotive, food industry, etc. Computer vision plays a special role in video surveillance, which allows monitoring the safety of citizens. The military also relies on computer vision: this technology can facilitate the process of ammunition production and even assist in demining minefields. Moreover, computer vision is actively used in medicine, for example, in researching cancer tumors.

In short, there are a vast number of areas where computer vision technologies can be applied, which is why investors have invested and will continue to invest in the development of artificial intelligence.