This book focuses on recent advances, approaches, theories, and applications related Hidden Markov Models (HMMs). In particular, the book presents recent inference frameworks and applications that consider HMMs. The authors discuss challenging problems that exist when considering HMMs for a specific task or application, such as estimation or selection, etc. The goal of this volume is to summarize the recent advances and modern approaches related to these problems. The book also reports advances on classic but difficult problems in HMMs such as inference and feature selection and describes real-world applications of HMMs from several domains. The book pertains to researchers and graduate students, who will gain a clear view of recent developments related to HMMs and their applications.

Hidden Markov models (HMMs) originally emerged in the domain of speech recognition. In recent years, they have attracted growing interest in the area of computer vision as well. This book is a collection of articles on new developments in the theory of HMMs and their application in computer vision. It addresses topics such as handwriting recognition, shape recognition, face and gesture recognition, tracking, and image database retrieval. This book is also published as a special issue of the International Journal of Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence (February 2001). Contents: Introduction: A Simple Complex in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (B H Juang)An Introduction to Hidden Markov Models and Bayesian Networks (Z Chahramani)Multi-Lingual Machine Printed OCR (P Natarajan et al.)Using a Statistical Language Model to Improve the Performance of an HMM-Based Cursive Handwriting Recognition System (U-V Marti & H Bunke)A 2-D HMM Method for Offline Handwritten Character Recognition (H-S Park et al.)Data-Driven Design of HMM Topology for Online Handwriting Recognition (J J Lee et al.)Hidden Markov Models for Modeling and Recognizing Gesture Under Variation (A D Wilson & A F Bobick)Sentence Lipreading Using Hidden Markov Model with Integrated Grammar (K Yu et al.)Tracking and Surveillance in Wide-Area Spatial Environments Using the Abstract Hidden Markov Model (H H Bui et al.)Shape Tracking and Production Using Hidden Markov Models (T Caelli et al.)An Integrated Approach to Shape and Color-Based Image Retrieval of Rotated Objects Using Hidden Markov Models (S Müller et al.) Readership: Graduate students of computer science, electrical engineering and related fields, as well as researchers at academic and industrial institutions. Keywords:Hidden Markov Models;Gesture Recognitoin;Bayesian Networks;Optical Character Recognition;Handwriting Character Recognition;Cartography;Shape Extraction;Image Feature Extraction.

A number of methodologies have been employed to provide decision making solutions globalized markets. Hidden Markov Models in Finance offers the first systematic application of these methods to specialized financial problems: option pricing, credit risk modeling, volatility estimation and more. The book provides tools for sorting through turbulence, volatility, emotion, chaotic events – the random "noise" of financial markets – to analyze core components.

The Application of Hidden Markov Models in Speech Recognition presents the core architecture of a HMM-based LVCSR system and proceeds to describe the various refinements which are needed to achieve state-of-the-art performance.

This thoroughly revised and expanded new edition now includes a more detailed treatment of the EM algorithm, a description of an efficient approximate Viterbi-training procedure, a theoretical derivation of the perplexity measure and coverage of multi-pass decoding based on n-best search. Supporting the discussion of the theoretical foundations of Markov modeling, special emphasis is also placed on practical algorithmic solutions. Features: introduces the formal framework for Markov models; covers the robust handling of probability quantities; presents methods for the configuration of hidden Markov models for specific application areas; describes important methods for efficient processing of Markov models, and the adaptation of the models to different tasks; examines algorithms for searching within the complex solution spaces that result from the joint application of Markov chain and hidden Markov models; reviews key applications of Markov models.

Here is a work that adds much to the sum of our knowledge in a key area of science today. It is concerned with the estimation of discrete-time semi-Markov and hidden semi-Markov processes. A unique feature of the book is the use of discrete time, especially useful in some specific applications where the time scale is intrinsically discrete. The models presented in the book are specifically adapted to reliability studies and DNA analysis. The book is mainly intended for applied probabilists and statisticians interested in semi-Markov chains theory, reliability and DNA analysis, and for theoretical oriented reliability and bioinformatics engineers.

Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), although known for decades, have made a big career nowadays and are still in state of development. This book presents theoretical issues and a variety of HMMs applications in speech recognition and synthesis, medicine, neurosciences, computational biology, bioinformatics, seismology, environment protection and engineering. I hope that the reader will find this book useful and helpful for their own research.