"This library is useful for practitioners, and is an excellent tool for those entering the field: it is a set of computer vision algorithms that work as advertised." -William T. Freeman, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Learning OpenCV puts you in the middle of the rapidly expanding field of computer vision. Written by the creators of the free open source OpenCV library, this book introduces you to computer vision and demonstrates how you can quickly build applications that enable computers to "see" and make decisions based on that data. Computer vision is everywhere-in security systems, manufacturing inspection systems, medical image analysis, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and more. It stitches Google maps and Google Earth together, checks the pixels on LCD screens, and makes sure the stitches in your shirt are sewn properly. OpenCV provides an easy-to-use computer vision framework and a comprehensive library with more than 500 functions that can run vision code in real time. Learning OpenCV will teach any developer or hobbyist to use the framework quickly with the help of hands-on exercises in each chapter. This book includes:

• A thorough introduction to OpenCV

• Getting input from cameras

• Transforming images

• Segmenting images and shape matching

• Pattern recognition, including face detection

• Tracking and motion in 2 and 3 dimensions

• 3D reconstruction from stereo vision

• Machine learning algorithms

Getting machines to see is a challenging but entertaining goal. Whether you want to build simple or sophisticated vision applications, Learning OpenCV is the book you need to get started.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

Great Book - 2010-01-05
Reviewer Rating:
The OpenCV library provides an amazing opportunity to those interested
in computer vision to begin exploring the field. The only problem with
OpenCV is that it is considerably lacking in straightforward,
easy-to-use documentation. Luckily, that's where this book comes in.

The rapidly expanding OpenCV library is explained in detail throughout
this book and those that read it gain a vast understanding of the
methods and classes provided through the library. With a simple
webcam, the opportunities to utilize the library are nearly endless.
Personally, I used this book as a reference while designing an
Automated Weapon Turret (sentry gun).

The book covers the basics of OpenCV from grabbing a frame from a
video or webcam to complex image processing tasks like stereo vision,
motion tracking, and machine learning. Because the library is
constantly expanding and being rewritten, not all of the information
in the book is up to date, but it certainly helps to establish a
background on how to use the library. While not a necessary tool for
using the OpenCV library, it is definitely a very useful and highly
recommended introduction and reference.

Great image processing and OpenCV book - 2009-12-09
Reviewer Rating:
This is a great book if you are either just getting started with OpenCV, or want to learn some the theory behind some of the algorithms. It is a very practical and well written book with plenty of samples. The source code is available, if you can find it, which makes things even more easy to implement and test.
I would heartily recommend this book, if you are interested in jumping into OpenCV.

Book - 2009-12-05
Reviewer Rating:
The book arrived really fast and in a very good condition. Thanks so much !!!!

Fantastic reference / textbook - 2009-10-09
Reviewer Rating:
Although I'm new to OpenCV and am only a few chapters into the book I already can tell that Using OpenCV is very well written and makes a fantastic source of information for the OpenCV project. Details are given as well as sample code that clearly explain the nuances of using this library. The authors make it clear that they intend this text to be used to teach/learn about using OpenCV and do a great job of covering the basics before moving on to more advanced topics.

Be aware you will need to be knowledgeable about the C language and need a decent math background. The former because OpenCV is written in C and the later because computer vision processing is math intensive and while OpenCV has man routines to handle the details you still need an understanding of the basic math involve to properly utilize them.

A hardcopy - 2009-10-08
Reviewer Rating:
This book reflects essentially what are in the several web sites, including OpenCv documentation. If you want a hardcopy of online documentation (as I wanted), then that's a nice option. However, don't expect be surprised by the contents of the book.

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