"the act of taking in raw data and taking an action based on the category of the data"
As such, it is a collection of methods for supervised learning.
Pattern recognition aims to classify data (patterns) based on either a priori knowledge or on statistical information extracted from the patterns. The patterns to be classified are usually groups of measurements or observations, defining points in an appropriate multidimensional space.
A complete pattern recognition system consists of a sensor that gathers the observations to be classified or described; a feature extraction mechanism that computes numeric or symbolic information from the observations; and a classification or description scheme that does the actual job of classifying or describing observations, relying on the extracted features.
The classification or description scheme is usually based on the availability of a set of patterns that have already been classified or described. This set of patterns is termed the training set and the resulting learning strategy is characterised as supervised learning. Learning can also be unsupervised, in the sense that the system is not given an a priori labelling of patterns, instead it establishes the classes itself based on the statistical regularities of the patterns.
The classification or description scheme usually uses one of the following approaches: statistical (or decision theoretic), syntactic (or structural). Statistical pattern recognition is based on statistical characterisations of patterns, assuming that the patterns are generated by a probabilistic system. Structural pattern recognition is based on the structural interrelationships of features. A wide range of algorithms can be applied for pattern recognition, from very simple Bayesian classifiers to much more powerful neural networks.
Holographic associative memory is another type of pattern matching scheme where a target small patterns can be searched from a large set of learned patterns based on cognitive meta-weight. See also: Holographic memory a technique that can store information at high density inside crystals or photopolymers.
In a holographic memory device, a laser beam is split in two, and the two resulting beams interact in a crystal medium to store a holographic recreation of a page of data.
InPhase: Holographic 3D storage technology in the palm of your hand
The Visible Woman Hologram
Hall of Human Biology & Evolution located @ American Museum of Natural History
Typical applications are automatic speech recognition, classification of text into several categories (e.g. spam/non-spam email messages), the automatic recognition of handwriting, or the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_recognition_system automatic recognition of images of human faces. The last two examples form the subtopic image analysis of pattern recognition that deals with digital images as input to pattern recognition systems. Even further use is with Biometrics (ancient Greek: bios = "life", metron = "measure") is the study of automated methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. (Note check Biometrics link for further information such as its current use and intitiatives along with many more links on the topic.
Pattern recognition is more complex when templates are used to generate variants. For example, in English, sentences often follow the "N-VP" (noun - verb phrase) pattern, but some knowledge of the English language is required to detect the pattern. Pattern recognition is studied in many fields, including psychology, ethology, and computer science.
Audio
Visual
See also:
Please note many of these effects as a general term may also be activating new modes of stimulus/sensory units/neurological passages and furthering our perception and activation of our senses for new modes of communication and the emergence of a language that will be able to describe and make up much as the linguistics we use now except for the emerging new world. Languages was the first technology and it is now time for an upgrade.
"To understand is to perceive patterns" - Isaiah Berlin
William Gibson's book Pattern Recognition
Will Be Morphing
Imported from Pattern recognition on 2006-08-28 which will also be morphing further