Knowledge-Based Image Enhancement for Cooperative Tele-Assistance

There is an increasing need in complex environments for computerized assistance, both for the effective filtering and display of pertinent information or data, and also for the decision-making task itself. The combination of artificial intelligence techniques with image processing and graphics capabilities provides the foundation for building intelligent systems which act as mediaries between the human and the task domain. In the field of tele-assistance, this type of system enables cooperative problem-solving between a remote semi-autonomous robot and a local human supervisor. This paper describes current work on such a system, with an emphasis on the development of knowledge-based image enhancement capabilities. These allow the intelligent assistant to request particular images related to a failure state, and to automatically enhance those images in such a manner that the local supervisor may quickly and effectively make a decision