A Unified Statistical and Information Theoretic Framework for Multi-modal Image Registration

We formulate and interpret several multi-modal registration methods in the context of a unified statistical and information theoretic framework. A unified interpretation clarifies the implicit assumptions of each method yielding a better understanding of their relative strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, we discuss a generative statistical model from which we derive a novel analysis tool, the "auto-information function", as a means of assessing and exploiting the common spatial dependencies inherent in multi-modal imagery. We analytically derive useful properties of the "auto-information" as well as verify them empirically on multi-modal imagery. Among the useful aspects of the "auto-information function" is that it can be computed from imaging modalities independently and it allows one to decompose the search space of registration problems.

Systematic Nonlinear Planning

This paper presents a simple, sound, complete, and systematic algorithm for domain independent STRIPS planning. Simplicity is achieved by starting with a ground procedure and then applying a general and independently verifiable, lifting transformation. Previous planners have been designed directly as lifted procedures. Our ground procedure is a ground version of Tate's NONLIN procedure. In Tate's procedure one is not required to determine whether a prerequisite of a step in an unfinished plan is guarnateed to hold in all linearizations. This allows Tate"s procedure to avoid the use of Chapman"s modal truth criterion. Systematicity is the property that the same plan, or partial plan, is never examined more than once. Systematicity is achieved through a simple modification of Tate's procedure.

Proceedings of the Second PHANToM User's Group Workshop

On October 19-22, 1997 the Second PHANToM Users Group Workshop was held at the MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts. Designed as a forum for sharing results and insights, the workshop was attended by more than 60 participants from 7 countries. These proceedings report on workshop presentations in diverse areas including rigid and compliant rendering, tool kits, development environments, techniques for scientific data visualization, multi-modal issues and a programming tutorial.