Book excerpt: These fifteen contributions by distinguished vision and imaging scientists explore the role of human vision in the design of modem image communication systems. A dominant theme in the book is image compression—how compression algorithms can be designed to make best use of what we know about human vision. Electronic image communications, which encompass television, high-definition television, teleconferencing, multimedia, digital photography, desktop publishing, and digital movies, is a rapidly growing segment of technology and business. Because these products and technologies are designed for human viewing, knowledge of human perception is essential to optimal design. This book provides a timely compendium of important ideas and perspectives on such subjects as the key aspects of human visual sensitivity that are relevant to image communications and, conversely, the major problems in image communications that vision science can address; the mathematical models of human vision that are useful in the design of image comunications systems; reliable and efficient methods of evaluating visual quality; and aspects of human vision that can be exploited to provide substantial improvements in coding efficiency. Andrew B. Watson is Senior Scientist for Vision Research at NASA. Contributors: Albert J. Ahumada, Jr. E. Barth. V. Michael Bove, Jr. Gershon Buchsbaum. Phillipe Cassereau. Pamela C. Cosman. Scott J. Daly. Michael Eckert. Bernd Girod. William E. Glenn. Robert M. Gray. Paul J. Hearty. Bradley Horowitz. Stanley Klein. Jeffrey Lubin, Cynthia Null. Karen L. Oehler. Alex Pentland. Todd Reed. Andrew B. Watson. B. Wegmann. Christof Zetsche.