Hands-on Digital Image Processing

Hands-on Digital Image Processing Roberto Lotufo Faculdade deEngenhariaEléctrica - DCA UniversidadeEstadual de Campinas,Campinas, SP 13082-970 - Brazil lotufo@dca.fee.unicamp.br Ramiro Jordán Ibero-American Science and Technology Educatium Consortium Department of EECE, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 - USA rjordan@eece.unm.edu Abstract This effort is the integration of the Khoros 2 system, hypertext (html), and network browsers to produce an interactive Digital Image Processing environment to enhance our ability to learn and work together across geographical, temporal, and cultural distances. This paper describes how this new type of course can impact teaching, learning, and research processes, and gives examples of how it is currently being used in several settings. The broad scope of the Khoros system and the communal emphasis on collaboration have contributed to this success. This new interactive toolbox/course is available free of charge via the Internet at http://www.khoros.unm.edu/ dipcourse or Netscape. The purpose of the course is to give users a hands-on approach to Image Processing through an extensive number of experiments. That is, mix theory and practice in such a way that students can immediately relate experimental results to theoretical concepts. We hope that with this new type of technology a wide range of users of different backgrounds can be introduced to “image engineering” and facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration. The course evolved from collaborative efforts between the University of New Mexico and the University of Campinas. It contains material that are presented at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, short courses utilizing this interactive format have been delivered in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain. Furthermore, many "surfers" have taken the course via the Internet and others have ftped the DIP course and installed it on their sites. This course can be used as a self-study guide or for any type of training format. The DIP toolbox/course has the following objectives: • Transfer the theory and practice required to process and visualize digital information. • Expose students to state-of-the-art technology via a hands-on approach to Digital Image Processing. • Present Khoros 2.0 as a software integration and development environment that emphasizes information processing and exploration. • Apply Khoros 2.0 as a common language platform for collaboration, software development, demonstration, technology transfer, and education. • Provide new teaching and learning tools to motivate the user community to collaborate utilizing both synchronous and asynchronous exchanges of resources and knowledge. Introduction Digital Image Processing can play an important role to the scientific education. In ICIP'94 [1], we first reported the use of Khoros as an authoring system for image processing and we mentioned that we were developing new advances integrating Khoros, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and the World-Wide Web (WWW). As a result, in December 1994, we released the DIP Khorosware as a toolbox to the Khoros environment [2]. Although other efforts exists to develop tools to facilitate teaching of image processing [3], our proposal is an unique solution that exhibits the following aspects: 1) it is interactive, 2) it can be accessed by Internet browsers, 3) it is freely available, and 4) it depends on freely available state-of-the-art software technology. Khorosware on Digital Image Processing This interactive course on Digital Image Processing (DIP) is based on hypertext (HTML) and the Khoros 2 system [1, 2]. It uses network browsers such as Mosaic The DIP course covers a wide range of topics in Image Processing such as: image representation and visualization, image manipulation, point operations (single operand and double operands), linear operations, image restoration, wavelets, non-linear operations, and pattern classification. The DIP course, since its release in Dec. 17, 1994, has gone through three complete revisions and the fourth version will be released in the second quarter of 1996. In addition, an eleven-hour video course was designed and produced to be followed simultaneously with the Internet-accessibleKhorosware. The DIP Khorosware can be obtained via anonymous ftp. Some sites are: ftp.unicamp.br, ftp.khoral.com, and ftp.eece.unm.edu. It can be used by any organization, but it cannot be distributed or used for profit without a license. Since its release in Dec. 1994, we average 75 hits a day and over 2000 sites grabbed the course via ftp to install it at their sites. These statistics are from one distribution site, www.khoral.com, and other sites around the world have not been considered. Information on the course as well as Khoros can be found at: http://www.khoral.com/ ipcourse, d http://www.eece.unm.edu/ ipcourse, and d http://www.dca.fee.unicamp.br/ ipcourse. d We expect this course to grow with the active participation of the user community. Other Khorosware toolboxes being develop are on Mathematical Morphology, Wavelets, Fuzzy Logic, DSP, and Neural Networks. Khoros is distributed via the Internet as Free Access Software. Source code and binaries are available throughout the world via File Transfer Protocol (ftp); it can be used by any organization, but it cannot be distributed for profit without a license. User feedback is critical to the evolution of Khoros and is the basis for the Khoros Consortium, a group of over 45 government and commercial organizations that oversee the technical direction of Khoros. The Khoros environment enables communication links among its users by providing a common language platform. Khoros has become an important environment for teaching image processing as an indirect result of the objectives of the Khoros project. We have developed a course based on this environment to present the concepts and ideas in Digital Image Processing. DIP Khorosware This course is intended to bridge the gap between theory and practice by providing a "hands-on" approach to digital image processing. There are two basic entries: List of Experiments and List of Experiments per Topic. Both direct the user through text full of hyper-links in a structure that is similar to a book (multimedia). List of Experiments consists of a collection of experiments grouped by type of operators used for the solution of a problem or explanation of a concept. List of Experiments per Topic groups the experiments per main Image Processing Topic. Both Experiment paths provides the user a direct list of "hands-on" lessons and experiences. Each lesson or experience is organized as follows. A front page gives a description of the problem or the concept for the experiment. This page is typically full of images and graphics showing the original data and the processed image or result. It explains the fundamentals of image processing in general. The front page is independent and can be used as a non-practical illustrative DIP course, i.e., without the "hands-on" touch. At the end of the front page there are two links: • Building a visual program (workspace) in cantata, • Execute the visual program "workspacename.wk". Building a visual program in cantata walks the users through a step by step recipe on how to combine Khoros operators/glyphs to solve a problem or illustrate concepts of a solution or experiment. It is intended for the students to acquire experience on where to find and how to use the different operators. For the inexperienced users, they will need to go step by step over the first few workspaces provided. As they acquire more experience, The Khoros Project Khoros 2 is a software integration and development environment that emphasizes information processing and data exploration. The objective of the Khoros project is to build a complete application development environment that redefines the software engineering process to include all members of the work group, from the application enduser to the infrastructure programmer, in the creation of software. The Khoros 2 environment accomplishes this objective by providing a broad set of Application Programming Interfaces that can be used as a source of reusable code for visual program development. In addition, the system provides visual software development tools that can be used to quickly prototype new software and maintain developed software. Furthermore, it is portable and extensible, and supports four different levels of user interaction (from unskilled end user to expert programmer). Finally, the Khoros system motivates a broad community to collaborate, by utilizing both synchronous and asynchronous exchanges of resources and knowledge. they will be able to build a workspace without referring to existing ones, or look at workspaces only when difficulties arise. Finally, at the end they will find a list of suggested exercises that provide further questions and problems so that they can extend and practice what they have learned. Executing the visual program "workspace-name.wk takes them directly to cantata where a proposed visual program is loaded and is ready for execution. Now they are ready to run, see the results, change parameters and play. Our experience in teaching indicates that it is not advisable to go straight to and run the workspaces provided in the course. The reason is that they will not understand how the workspace was built, why the set of operators were chosen, why certain parameters were selected within an operator and their values. Therefore, for their convenience, a solution workspace is included in the DIP Khorosware so that they can observe, experiment, and play with a solution to a problem or illustration of concepts. model course from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), ISTEC member universities were consulted in 1992 to identify their technical strengths and the "Tecnologías de la Información" curriculum was defined. Outstanding faculty from Spain, Latin America and the United States agreed to share intellectual and financial resources to reap benefits beyond the reach of any single institution. The "Tecnologías de la Información'' series is comprised of eight courses dealing with a broad range of information technologies. Eight universities are collaborating in the execution of the project, each contributing staff and facilities, and arranging sponsorship for course development and production. Via HISPASAT satellite links, the series is being broadcast by the Ibero-American Educational Television Association (ATEI), a public system promoted and supported by Ibero-American Ministries of Education in partnership with over 250 member institutions in Spain, Portugal, Latin America and the U.S.A. ATEI is also a partial sponsor of the series' production. The Digital Image Processing course exemplifies the high standards of use of collaborative learning technologies toward which all "Tecnologías de la Información" courses strive. An eleven-hour video course was co-produced by the University of New Mexico (USA) and the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil); the video is designed to be followed simultaneously with the Internet-accessible Digital Image Processing with Khoros 2 course. The broadcast of the video course occurred from Sept. through Dec. 1995. This course is being used as a self-study guide and for curriculum development throughout the ATEI area of influence. Furthermore, an added benefit of the course was the identification and creation of research groups in image processing throughout the region. Following the format of the course has greatly facilitated the exchange of ideas, data and results among theses groups. Clearly, the Khoros 2 system is being used not only as an authoring system but also as a common language platform for transnational R&D. ISTEC's Advanced Continuing Education Initiative and the DIPKhorosware The Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium (ISTEC) is a non-profit organization comprised of educational, research, and industrial institutions throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. ISTEC was founded in 1990 to meet the need for improved education in technical areas and to provide a mechanism for sharing of information. The objectives of ISTEC include providing access to improved, up-todate science and technology education for all participants, stimulating international research and development projects, providing a vehicle for technology transfer for economic development, and improving international cooperation. Members of ISTEC share a long-term commitment as partners to coordinate activities, exchange information, conduct joint research, and find improved mechanisms for educating students and professionals about and with available technology. The ISTEC-designed curriculum enhancement project, "Tecnologías de la Información", dissolves the limits of location and shows that sharing resources goes far beyond cost-effectiveness. "Tecnologías de la Información" is designed to utilize the technical expertise of senior research faculty from the Ibero-American world to co-develop and present highly specialized courses for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and industrial scientists engaged in research, curricula reform and faculty upgrades. Building on a project design and Future Work At the beginning we did not foresee the dimension and complexity of this endeavor. Clearly, it is an ongoing project and the issues of development and maintainability must be considered. Not only lessons and experiments will be continued to be extended and enhanced, but the tools to facilitate this development need to be continuously upgraded. These tools enable the generation of interactive electronic pages and book-like hardcopy materials. We see SGML as a solution to the above issues. We have begun the process to create the necessary infrastructure for the next release. We intend to define a DTD suitable for Khorosware course development. With this infrastructure other people would be more motivated to collaborate. In the future, multimedia mechanisms, as well as collaboration technology, will enhance our ability to learn and work together across geographical, temporal, and cultural distances. The future belongs to collaboration and education across international borders, mediated by computers and high-speed links. Finally, the use of the Khoros 2 system by the ISTEC Consortium members is a clear demonstration of transnational collaboration. Conclusion The Khoros 2 environment has achieved success as a tool for teaching image processing as an authoring system, and for providing a common language platform for R&D. This has come about as a result of the diversity of the capabilities of the Khoros 2 environment (authoring tool, research tool, built-in collaboration technology, and commercial software development tool), the cost of the software, and the participation of user communities. With the help of new Internet tools, not only Khoros is enhanced, but teaching is being facilitated and encouraged. The classic approach to teaching image processing combines a textbook, a sequence of lectures and tests, and perhaps a project. This approach has several disadvantages. Such a course is a passive experience for the student. By combining interactive text and images with the Khoros 2 system we have taken steps to make the learning process more dynamic. We have used hypertext and the Khoros 2 system as a conduit between the instructors and students across geographical, temporal, and cultural distances. The hypertext format makes good use of web browsers, encouraging student progress and input through interactive text and images. Running atop the visual programming environment of the Khoros 2 system, users experience a hands-on approach to image processing through an extensive number of experiments. In addition, all attendees of the eleven-hour satellite broadcast who had Internet access were able to receive email assistance from the instructors of the video course. This is also true of anyone who has access to the Internet course. With the satellite course, we demonstrated an innovative form of distance education by utilizing a combination of technologies, that is, the delivery of course materials via satellite, student feedback to the instructors via data communication networks, and a fully interactive Internet course to enable students to relate experimental results with theoretical concepts. Acknowledgments The existence and growth of the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium is due to the individual efforts of the dedicated personnel at member institutions. Special mention should be made of Motorola Inc., Northern Telecom, and Cray Research, Inc., who have supported ISTEC activities from the beginning, and Khoral Research, Inc., which has provided a unique software platform for utilization by the Consortium. Support has also come from Fluke Corporation, McBride Inc., IBM-Brazil, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico (CNPq - Brazil) Fundaçao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de S ~ o Paulo (FAPESP - Brazil), Colciencias a (Colombia), CICYT (Spain), and Xunta de Galicia (Spain). Finally, we are grateful to the State of New Mexico for supporting the activities of the University of New Mexico in its interaction with the Consortium. References 1. J. Rasure, R. Jordán and R. Lotufo, "Teaching Image Processing with Khoros", Invited paper to the First IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, ICIP-94, pp. 506-510, Vol. I, Nov. 13-16, 1994. 2. R. Jordán and R. Lotufo, "Digital Image Processing with Khoros 2.0" World Wide Web Courseware, versions 0.1, Dec. 1994, and versions 0.2, June 1995, and 0.3, Aug. 1995. 3. Special section on Image Processing in Education, First IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, ICIP-94, Austin, Texas, pp. 501-529, vol. I, Nov. 13-16, 1994.