Kirk Martinez

Kirk Martinez is a Senior Lecturer in Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton UK. He gained a BSc in Physics from the University of Reading and a PhD in Image Processing in the department of Electronic Systems Engineering at the University of Essex. While Arts Computing Lecturer at Birkbeck College London (1987–96) he pioneered the digital imaging of paintings together with The National Gallery, London in the European project VASARI (1980s). This led to a continuous development of art imaging projects to print accurate art books (MARC project), view high detail images on the web (Viseum project [1]) and find art images online (Artiste, SCULPTEUR and eCHASE). He has published this research in books on image processing and computer architecture as well as Transactions of the IEEE on content-based image retrieval He was an advisor on the imaging and image processing required for the Archimedes Palimpsest.

He is one of the founders of the Electronics and the Visual Arts: EVA Conferences

He is the founder of the VIPS (software) [2] image processing package together with John Cupitt (National Gallery London and now Imperial College London). This now used widely worldwide and available in most Linux distributions as well as for Microsoft Windows. It is particularly known for mosaicing, colour and parallel processing/performance.

He is currently working on wireless sensor networks for monitoring the environment, particularly in relation to glaciers and climate change (Glacsweb project). This research featured on BBC technology news and the BBC's News, recently work to move the technology to landslide detection was also on BBC news.

external links and references

• his home page
• Glacsweb
• Computerworld nomination for the VASARI project
• article on Lifeboat
• work on Archimedes Palimpsest
• VIPS publication
• Nicolas Salmeron a relative cited in WikiPedia