<html><head><TITLE>The VIGRA Computer Vision Library</TITLE></head>
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Welcome to the
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<H2>VIGRA Computer Vision Library</H2>
<B>Version 1.0</b>
<B>by <A HREF=http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~koethe/>Ullrich Köthe</A></b>
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<P>VIGRA ("Vision with Generic Algorithms") is a novel computer vision library that
puts its main emphasize on <EM>flexible, reusable algorithms</EM>, because
algorithms represent the principle know-how of this field.
The library was consequently built using <EM>generic programming</EM> as introduced by Stepanov and Musser and exemplified in the C++
<A HREF=http://www.sgi.com/Technology/STL/>Standard Template Library</A>.
By writing a few adapters (image iterators and accessors)
you can use VIGRA's algorithms on top of
<EM>your</EM> data structures, within <EM>your</EM> environment. Alternatively,
you can also use the data structures provided within VIGRA, which can
be easily adapted to a wide range of applications. VIGRA's flexibility
comes almost for free: Since the design uses compile-time polymorphism
(templates), performance of the compiled program approaches that
of a traditional, hand tuned, inflexible, solution.
<P>VIGRA's design is documented in the chapter <EM>"Reusable Software in
Computer Vision"</EM> by
<A HREF=http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~koethe/>Ullrich Köthe</A>,
in: B. Jähne, H. Haußecker, P. Geißler: "Handbook on
Computer Vision and Applications", volume 3, Acadamic Press, 1999.
If you don't have the book, you may read a
<A HREF="../papers/handbook.ps.gz">draft of this article</A>. A shorter article
<EM>"STL Style Generic Programming with Images"</EM> desrcibing some of the
ideas has appeared in the January 2000 issue of
<A HREF=http://www.creport.com/>C++ Report Magazine</A>.
<P>VIGRA is subject to this <A HREF=LICENSE>LICENSE</A>. It can be downloaded at <A HREF=http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~koethe/vigra/vigra1.0.tar.gz>http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~koethe/vigra/vigra1.0.tar.gz</A>. VIGRA should compile with any standard-conforming C++ compilers (including GNU g++, SGI C++ 7.3) and some non-conforming ones (SGI C++ 7.2, Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0, patchlevel 3). You can read the <A HREF=doc/>documentation</A> online. Please report any bugs or other comments to <A HREF="mailto:koethe@informatik.uni-hamburg.de">koethe@informatik.uni-hamburg.de</A>
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(C)opyright <A HREF="http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~koethe/">Ullrich Köthe</A> <br>
<i><A HREF="http://kogs-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/">
Cognitive Systems Group</a>,
University of Hamburg, Germany</i>
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