Image Databases: The First Decade, the Present, and the Future

We have seen an explosion of image database developments in the decade since work began on the first multi-user networked system. This paper explores the state of technology a decade ago, revisits one of the earliest systems, identifies curren t interesting projects, discusses the major issues that are being faced today, and forecasts issues and trends that will emerge in the future. This paper reflects the biases of the author, zuhose primary interests lie in building image databases of cultural heritage materials, and who was involved in the development of the Berkeley Image Database System (ImageQuery).