Statistical Pattern Recognition

Book excerpt: Statistical pattern recognition is a very active area of study andresearch, which has seen many advances in recent years. New andemerging applications - such as data mining, web searching,multimedia data retrieval, face recognition, and cursivehandwriting recognition - require robust and efficient patternrecognition techniques. Statistical decision making and estimationare regarded as fundamental to the study of pattern recognition. Statistical Pattern Recognition, Second Edition has been fullyupdated with new methods, applications and references. It providesa comprehensive introduction to this vibrant area - with materialdrawn from engineering, statistics, computer science and the socialsciences - and covers many application areas, such as databasedesign, artificial neural networks, and decision supportsystems. * Provides a self-contained introduction to statistical patternrecognition. * Each technique described is illustrated by real examples. * Covers Bayesian methods, neural networks, support vectormachines, and unsupervised classification. * Each section concludes with a description of the applicationsthat have been addressed and with further developments of thetheory. * Includes background material on dissimilarity, parameterestimation, data, linear algebra and probability. * Features a variety of exercises, from 'open-book' questions tomore lengthy projects. The book is aimed primarily at senior undergraduate and graduatestudents studying statistical pattern recognition, patternprocessing, neural networks, and data mining, in both statisticsand engineering departments. It is also an excellent source ofreference for technical professionals working in advancedinformation development environments. For further information on the techniques and applicationsdiscussed in this book please visit ahref="http://www.statistical-pattern-recognition.net/"www.statistical-pattern-recognition.net/a