<s>
A	O
visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
network	I-Device
or	O
smart	B-Device
camera	I-Device
network	I-Device
or	O
intelligent	B-Device
camera	I-Device
network	I-Device
is	O
a	O
network	O
of	O
spatially	O
distributed	O
smart	B-General_Concept
camera	I-General_Concept
devices	O
capable	O
of	O
processing	O
,	O
exchanging	O
data	O
and	O
fusing	O
images	O
of	O
a	O
scene	O
from	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
viewpoints	O
into	O
some	O
form	O
more	O
useful	O
than	O
the	O
individual	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
network	I-Device
may	O
be	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
wireless	B-Architecture
sensor	I-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
,	O
and	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
theory	O
and	O
application	O
of	O
the	O
latter	O
applies	O
to	O
the	O
former	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
network	O
generally	O
consists	O
of	O
the	O
cameras	O
themselves	O
,	O
which	O
have	O
some	O
local	O
image	B-Algorithm
processing	I-Algorithm
,	O
communication	O
and	O
storage	O
capabilities	O
,	O
and	O
possibly	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
central	O
computers	O
,	O
where	O
image	O
data	O
from	O
multiple	O
cameras	O
is	O
further	O
processed	O
and	O
fused	B-General_Concept
(	O
this	O
processing	O
may	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
simply	O
take	O
place	O
in	O
a	O
distributed	O
fashion	O
across	O
the	O
cameras	O
and	O
their	O
local	O
controllers	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
networks	I-Device
also	O
provide	O
some	O
high-level	O
services	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
data	O
can	O
be	O
distilled	O
into	O
information	O
of	O
interest	O
using	O
specific	O
queries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
difference	O
between	O
visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
networks	I-Device
and	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
sensor	B-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
is	O
the	O
nature	O
and	O
volume	O
of	O
information	O
the	O
individual	O
sensors	O
acquire	O
:	O
unlike	O
most	O
sensors	O
,	O
cameras	O
are	O
directional	O
in	O
their	O
field	O
of	O
view	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
capture	O
a	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
visual	O
information	O
which	O
may	O
be	O
partially	O
processed	O
independently	O
of	O
data	O
from	O
other	O
cameras	O
in	O
the	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
light	O
of	O
this	O
,	O
communication	O
in	O
visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
networks	I-Device
differs	O
substantially	O
from	O
traditional	O
sensor	B-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
networks	I-Device
are	O
most	O
useful	O
in	O
applications	O
involving	O
area	O
surveillance	O
,	O
tracking	B-Application
,	O
and	O
environmental	O
monitoring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
possibility	O
is	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
visual	B-Device
sensor	I-Device
networks	I-Device
in	O
telecommunications	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
network	O
would	O
automatically	O
select	O
the	O
"	O
best	O
"	O
view	O
(	O
perhaps	O
even	O
an	O
arbitrarily	O
generated	O
one	O
)	O
of	O
a	O
live	O
event	O
.	O
</s>
