Computer vision is a technical capability that enables a computer to recognize or understand the content of a picture. Robotics is a field that is particularly affected by the development of computer vision. A robot with vision capability will be much more effective in its workspace than one that is un-sighted. Robots with vision can be programmed to respond to unstructured or random changes. For example, imagine that a robot is needed to pick up and use bolts that are lying loose in a box. The bolts can be at any orientation with respect to the gripper and only a sighted robot will have the ability to adapt to this random configuration. A robot with no vision system would have to be pre-programmed by somebody to know exactly where every bolt was lying in the box—not a very cost-effective solution.

Human vision, which...