First steps towards an intentional vision system

Abstract

Contrary to many standard vision systems which proceed in a cascaded feedforward manner, imposing a fixed order in the sequence of visual operations like detection preceding segmentation and classification, we develop here the idea of a vision system that flexibly controls the order and accessibility of visual processes during operation. Vision is hereby understood as the dynamic process of adaptation of visual parameters and modules as a function of underlying goals or intentions. This perspective requires a specific architectural organization, since vision is then a continuous balance between the sensory stimulation and internally generated information. In this paper we present the concept and the necessary main ingredients and show first steps towards the implementation of a real-time intentional vision system.