MAP4VIP

MAP4VIP 2013 aims to bring researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines (computer vision, neuroscience, multimedia computing, sensor technologies and assistive technology applications) to discuss fundamental issues in visual perception, computational intelligence, neuroscience and visual prosthesis for helping blind and visually impaired people and people working in visually challenged environments. Based on the World Health Organization 2012 Report, there are more than 285 million visually impaired people, of which 39 million are blind. About 65% of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age group comprises about 20% of the world's population. With an increasing elderly population in many countries, more people will be at risk of age-related visual impairment. Research on multimodal and alternative perception will have a long term impact on the health and wellness of society, not only for the visually challenged, but for people who often work in dangerous environments, such as firefighters, drivers and soldiers. This is the first IEEE workshop on this topic, but we have had two very successful internal workshops with similar multidisciplinary features (one at Georgia Tech and one at The City University of New York - CUNY). This workshop coordinates with the main conference theme on "Multimedia for Humanity". We hope this workshop will attract attention of the multimedia community in understanding human perception, human brain, and human-machine interaction issues for assisting the visually impaired and challenged individuals.