Multiple Classifier Systems: Third International Workshop, MCS 2002, Cagliari, Italy, June 24-26, 2002. Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science)

Morethanadecadeago,combiningmultipleclassi?erswasproposedasap- siblesolutiontotheproblemsposedbythetraditionalpatternclassi?cation approachwhichinvolvedselectingthebestclassi?erfromasetofcandidates basedontheirexperimentalevaluation. Asnoclassi?erisknowntobethebest forallcasesandtheselectionofthebestclassi?erforagivenpracticaltaskis verydi?cult,diverseresearchcommunities,includingMachineLearning,N- ralNetworks,PatternRecognition,andStatistics,addressedtheengineering problemofhowtoexploitthestrengthswhileavoidingtheweaknessesofd- ferentdesigns. Thisambitiousresearchtrendwasalsomotivatedbyempirical observationsaboutthecomplementarityofdi?erentclassi?erdesigns,natural requirementsofinformationfusionapplications,andintrinsicdi?cultiesasso- atedwiththeoptimalchoiceofsomeclassi?erdesignparameters,suchasthe architectureandtheinitialweightsforaneuralnetwork. Afteryearsofresearch, thecombinationofmultipleclassi?ershasbecomeawellestablishedandexciting researcharea,whichprovidese?ectivesolutionstodi?cultpatternrecognition problems. Aconsiderablebodyofempiricalevidencesupportsthemeritof- signingcombinedsystemswhoseaccuracyishigherthanthatofeachindividual classi?er,andvariousmethodsforthegenerationandthecombinationofm- tipleclassi?ershavebecomeavailable. However,despitetheprovedutilityof multipleclassi?ersystems,nogeneralanswertotheoriginalquestionaboutthe possibilityofexploitingthestrengthswhileavoidingtheweaknessesofdi?erent classi?erdesignshasyetemerged. Otherfundamentalissuesarealsoamatterof on-goingresearchindi?erentresearchcommunities. Theresultsachievedd- ingthepastyearsarealsospreadoverdi?erentresearchcommunities,andthis makesitdi?culttoexchangesuchresultsandpromotetheircross-fertilization. Theacknowledgmentofthefundamentalrolethatthecreationofacommon internationalforumforresearchersofthediversecommunitiescouldplayfor theadvancementofthisresearch?eldmotivatedthepresentseriesofwo- shopsonmultipleclassi?ersystems. Followingitspredecessors,MultipleCl- si?erSystems2000(SpringerISBN3-540-67704-6)and2001(SpringerISBN 3-540-42284-6),thisvolumecontainstheproceedingsoftheThirdInternational WorkshoponMultipleClassi?erSystems(MCS2002),heldattheGrandHotel ChiaLaguna,Cagliari,Italy,onJune24-26,2002. The29papersselectedby thescienti?ccommitteehavebeenorganizedinsessionsdealingwithbagging andboosting,ensemblelearningandneuralnetworks,combinationstrategies, designmethodologies,analysisandperformanceevaluation,andapplications. Theworkshopprogramandthisvolumeareenrichedwiththreeinvitedtalks givenbyJoydeepGhosh(UniversityofTexas,USA),TrevorHastie(Stanford University,USA),andSarunasRaudys(VilniusGediminasTechnicalUniversity, Lithuania). Papersweresubmittedfromresearchersofthefourdiversecom- nities,socon?rmingthatthisseriesofworkshopscanbecomeacommonforum VI Foreword forexchangingviewsandreportinglatestresearchresults. Asfortheprevious editions,thesigni?cantnumberofpapersdealingwithrealpatternrecognition applicationsareproofofthepracticalutilityofmultipleclassi?ersystems. This workshopwassupportedbytheUniversityofCagliari,Italy,theUniversityof Surrey,Guildford,UnitedKingdom,andtheDepartmentofElectricalandEl- tronicEngineeringoftheUniversityofCagliari. Allthesesupportsaregratefully acknowledged. WealsothanktheInternationalAssociationforPatternRecog- tionanditsTechnicalCommitteeTC1onStatisticalPatternRecognitionTe- niquesforsponsoringMCS2002. Wewishtoexpressourappreciationtoallthose whohelpedtoorganizeMCS2002. Firstofall,wewouldliketothankallthe membersoftheScienti?cCommitteewhoseprofess