This Research Initiation Award is for investigation of object recognition by means of motion patterns. Objects that typically move are easier to identify when in motion. Dr. Nelson will study both complex, non-rigid motion fields such as windblown trees, ripples on water, and chaotic fluid flow, and action identification for compact objects such as machinery and moving people. His recognition approach will apply methods of statistical texture identification to features extracted from optical motion fields. Monitoring and surveillance are among the possible applications.