Message from the general chair

On behalf of the ICIP 2012 Organizing Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the 19th IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP) in Orlando, Florida. Orlando is nicknamed “The City Beautiful,” and its symbol is the fountain at Lake Eola. This “City Beautiful” has more theme parks and entertainment attractions than any other city in the world. It is best known for the Walt Disney World Resort which was founded in 1971 and located approximately 21 miles/34 km southwest of downtown in Lake Buena Vista. It has currently grown to encompass four magnificent theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studies and Animal Kingdom, two fabulous water parks: Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and a variety of world class hotels, facilities and shopping areas. Another well-known resort is the Universal Orlando Resort, which consists of two parks, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Orlando is home to the SeaWorld theme park, Gatorland, and Wet ´n Wild Water Park. The city´s famous attractions form the backbone of Orlando´s tourism industry attracting over 51 million tourists a year.