Preface

Computer vision systems are deployed in the Arctic Ocean to spot icebergs at night. They are flown over the Amazon rainforest to create aerial maps of fires, blights, and illegal logging. They are set up in ports and airports worldwide to scan for suspects and contraband. They are sent to the depths of the Marianas Trench to guide autonomous submarines. They are used in operating rooms to help surgeons visualize the planned procedure and the patient's current condition. They are launched from battlefields as the steering systems of heat-seeking, anti-aircraft rockets.

We might seldom—or never—visit these places. However, stories often encourage us to imagine extreme environments and a person's dependence on tools in these unforgiving conditions. Perhaps fittingly, one of contemporary fiction's most popular characters is an almost ordinary man (handsome but not too handsome, clever but not too clever) who wears a suit, works for the British Government, always chooses the same drink, the same kind of woman, the same tone for delivering a pun, and is sent to do dangerous jobs with a peculiar collection of gadgets.

This book teaches seriously useful technologies and techniques with a healthy dose of inspiration from spy fiction. The Bond franchise is rich in ideas about detection, disguise, smart devices, image capture, and sometimes even computer vision specifically. With imagination, plus dedication of learning new skills, we can become the next generation of gadget makers to rival Bond's engineer, Q!