International Conference on Advances in Pattern Recognition Proceedings of ICAPR ’98, 23–25 November 1998, Plymouth, UK

International Conference on Advances in Pattern Recognition (ICAPR 98) at Plymouth represents an important meeting for advanced research in pattern recognition. There is considerable interest in the areas of image processing, medical imaging, speech recognition, document analysis and character recognition, fuzzy data analysis and neural networks. ICAPR 98 is aimed at providing an international platform for invited research in this multi-disciplinary area. It is expected that the conference will grow in future years to include more research contributions that detail state-of­ the-art research in pattern recognition. ICAPR 98 attracted contributions from different countries of the highest quality. I should like to thank the programme and organising committee for doing an excellent job in organising this conference. The peer reviewed nature of the conference ensured high quality publications in these proceedings. My personal thanks to Mrs. Barbara Davies who served as conference secretary and worked tirelessly in organising the conference. I thank the organising chair for the local arrangements and our should also key-note, plenary and tutorial speakers for their valuable contributions to the conference. I also thank Springer-Verlag for publishing these proceedings that will be a valuable source of research reference for the readers. Finally, I thank all participants who made this conference successful.

Plenary Sessions.- Looking for Awareness in the Brain.- Pattern Classification: Fusion of Information.- Database Retrieval Oriented Approach for Model-Based Object Recognition.- Image Processing.- Combined Feature Sets for Texture Classification.- Using CBR Learning for the Low-Level and High-Level Unit of an Image Interpretation System.- Application of the Trace Transform to Change Detection.- Using Natural Language and Video Data to Query and Learn American Football Plays.- Invariant Content-Based Image Retrieval using the Fourier-Mellin Transform.- Performance Assessment of Edge-Based Range Image Segmentation.- Image Variability Decomposition for Recovering Pose and Illumination from Object Tracking.- On Increasing the Objectiveness of Segmentation Results.- Color-Based Moment Invariants for Viewpoint and Illumination Independent Recognition of Planar Color Patterns.- Medical Analysis.- Error and Shape Measurement Tools for Cardiac Projection Images: A Closer Look.- Recent Advances Towards a Model-Based Pattern-Recognition Approach for the Left Ventricle Boundary Estimation.- An Approach to Dynamic Modelling and Topographic Feature Extraction of Wake EEG.- Algorithms for Fuzzy Segmentation.- Neural and Evolutionary Computing.- Unsupervised Learning without Overfitting: Empirical Risk Approximation as an Induction Principle for Reliable Clustering.- Application of Neural Networks to Vehicle Recognition and Tracking.- An Artificial Neural Network Based Encoding of an Invariant Sammon Map for Real-Time Projection of Patterns from Odour Sensor Arrays.- Probabalistic and Other Neural Nets in Multi-Hole Probe Calibration and Flow Angularity Pattern Recognition.- Beyond PaRADISE: Extensions to a Neural Network for Visual Object Recognition.- Parallel Decomposition of Generic Morphological Structuring Elements.- Neural Learning of Spiral Structures.- Ranking Pattern Recognition Features for Neural Networks.- Speech Recognition.- A Hybrid Approach to Pattern Matching for Text-To-Speech Conversion.- Robust Speech Recognition using Fuzzy Matrix/Vector Quantisation, Neural Networks and Hidden Markov Models.- An Experimental Study on Confidence Measures for Robust Speech Recognition.- Refinement of a Structured Language Model.- Document and Character Analysis.- An Adaptative Pre-Processing for On-Line Hand-Written Character Recognition by Blind People.- Categorizing Document Images into Script and Language Classes.- Table Recognition and Labeling using Intrinsic Layout Features.- Recognition of Printed Arabic Text via Machine Learning.- A Deterministic Algorithm for Reconstructing Off-Line Calligraphical Strokes with Priority Rules.- Off-Line Handwritten Chinese Character Recognition Based on Structural Features and Fuzzy ARTMAP.- Agent-Based Text Extraction from Pyramid Images.- Pattern Recognition.- Vector Quantization and Minimum Description Length.- Localized Soft Subspace Pattern Classification.- A Quantum Leap to Advances in Pattern Recognition.- A Comparative Study of String Dissimilarity Measures in Structural Clustering.- Support Vector Machines and Linear Spectral Unmixing for Remote Sensing.- Why Classical Models for Pattern Recognition are not Pattern Recognition Models.- Pattern Discovery in Time-Oriented Data.- Adaptive Graphical Pattern Recognition: The Joint Role of Structure and Learning.- Tutorials.- Classification using Networks of Normalized Radial Basis Function.- Pattern Recognition - A Pillar in the Sensor Fusion Edifice or Vice-Versa?.- Author Biographies.- Author Index.