Advances in visual computing

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to Lake Tahoe for the 2005 Int- national Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC). ISVC provides a common umbrella for the four main areas of visual computing: vision, graphics, visu- ization, and virtual reality. The goal of ISVC is to provide a common forum for researchers, scientists, engineers, and practitioners throughout the world to present their latest research ? ndings, ideas, developments, and applications in the broader area of visual computing. The program consists of six oral sessions, two poster sessions, seven special tracks, fourkeynotepresentations, andoneinvitedpresentation. Theresponseto thecallforpapersforthegeneralISVC2005sessionswasverygood. Wereceived over110submissionsfromwhichweaccepted33papersfororalpresentationand 26 papers for poster presentation. Special track papers were solicited separately through the organizing and program committees of each track. A total of 32 papers were accepted for inclusion in the special tracks. All papers were reviewed with an emphasis on their potential to contribute to the state of the art in the ? eld. Selection criteria included accuracy and originality of ideas, clarity and signi? cance of results, and presentation qu- ity. The review process was quite rigorous, involving two or three independent double-blind reviews followed by a one-week discussion period. During the d- cussion period we tried to correct anomalies and errors that might have existed in the initial reviews. Despite our e? orts, we recognize that some papers worthy of inclusion may not have been included in the program. We o? er our sincere apologies to authors whose contributions might have been overlooked. IwishtothankeverybodywhosubmittedtheirworktoISVC2005forreview.