Personal computers (such as the Macintosh) offer very cost-effective hardware configurations for simple image-processing tasks. However, programming them using conventional techniques is notoriously difficult, due to the high level of sophistication of the user interface. The main purpose of this project is to devise powerful development tools to facilitate the development of specialized software for such workstations. The first step was to create a generic image-processing shell that is easy to modify for creating specialized applications. The main feature is that all complex interactions with the user interface are handled automatically; the programmer need only be concerned with the application-specific procedures. Over the years, we have developed a comprehensive set of basic image-processing modules that perform various tasks, including filtering, multiresolution and wavelet decompositions, edge detection, point transformations, and binary operations; most of these modules are now available in both FORTRAN and C. More recently, we have begun the development of an improved, second-generation image-processing system, called Flexible Language-based Image-Processing System II (FLIPS II), that uses a powerful interpretive language and integrates most of the available subroutines. This year, we have improved the portability of the software which is now also available on a UNIX environment.
