Thomas Oriel Binford has been a researcher in

image analysis Image analysis or imagery analysis is the extraction of meaningful information from images; mainly from digital images by means of digital image processing techniques. Image analysis tasks can be as simple as reading bar coded tags or as sophi ...

and

computer vision Computer vision is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can gain high-level understanding from digital images or videos. From the perspective of engineering, it seeks to understand and automate tasks that the hum ...

since 1967. He developed a model-based approach to computer vision in which complex objects are represented as collections of generalized cylinders. His results are reflected in work in other areas of research, including the interpretation of complex scenes using invariants and quasi-invariants, inference rules and evidential reasoning in extended Bayes networks of symbolic geometric constraints, the SUCCESSOR system, a portable, intelligent vision system, stereo and visual robot navigation, segmentation and feature estimation in complex images, color image analysis, surface material analysis, and image compression. He has led the development of numerous computer vision systems, including systems successfully employed in brain surgery on humans, high-precision automated machining, and helicopter navigation. Binford received a Ph.D. in

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

in 1965 from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

, under the supervision of Myron L. Good; his thesis was entitled "Angular Distribution and Polarization of Neutral Hyperons Produced in Association with Neutral Kaons".. He was a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India from 1965 to 1966, and a research scientist at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 1966 to 1970. From 1970 to 2000 he was a professor of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

; in 2000 he retired to become an

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

professor.. While at Stanford, Professor Binford supervised more than 40

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

theses while leading research in computer vision, artificial intelligence, medical image processing, radar image understanding, robotics, industrial inspection, and manufacturing; notable students of Binford's include Rodney Brooks and

Jitendra Malik Jitendra Malik is an Indian-American academic who is the Arthur J. Chick Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known for his research in computer vision. Academic biography ...

. Since retiring from active research at Stanford, Binford has founded and is chairman and chief technology officer of Read-Ink Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a company in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

specializing in online handwriting recognition software. In 1994 Thomas Binford was elected a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence "for his role as a founding father in the field of computer vision and model-based perception in robotics; and for his many contributions to the fields".ELECTED AAAI FELLOWS
Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Accessed December 4, 2010

References

External links

Read-Ink Technologies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Binford, Thomas Living people Computer vision researchers University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Stanford University School of Engineering faculty American chief technology officers Year of birth missing (living people)