AI-Driven Color Models for Imaging, Formulation, Appearance Measurement and Computer Vision

Dear Colleagues,

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have quickly become standard technologies in various fields. Color science and technology is no exception, and the number of AI and ML applications in this domain is steadily increasing. Unfortunately, the publications have so far been scattered over a wide range of journals. Therefore, we sought to bring together a series of high-quality, highly relevant papers that reflect today’s status of AI and ML in various subdisciplines of color science and technology.

Technologies is an international, peer-reviewed, quick-refereeing open access journal published online by MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Technologies (ISSN 2227-7080) is indexed by Scopus, ESCI (Web of Science), Ei Compendex, DOAJ, Inspec, and INSPIRE, among others. You can learn more about the scope of the journal here: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/technologies/about/. The Impact Factor of the journal is 3.6.

We invite you to contribute an original research paper or a comprehensive review article on the development and/or application of artificial intelligence/machine learning to color science and technology in the wider sense of the word. This would include applications focused on imaging, color formulation, color and appearance measurement, and computer vision.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Enhanced metrology of reflectance and color based on combined sensor data, such as combining limited sets of LEDs to represent white illuminance, combining RGB image data, etc.;
• Improved color formulation of effect coatings and solid colors by combining various types of sensor data;
• Improved formulation for dyes, textiles, printing, and the graphic industry;
• Metrology of gloss, haze, and visual texture, such as sparkle and graininess, by combining a variety of sensor data;
• Detection of scratches by image analysis;
• Improved color accuracy and/or temporal stability in augmented reality applications using AI/ML-based segmentation;
• Enhanced algorithms to convert measurement data between different instruments in the area of reflectance (color) and appearance measurement;
• Development of total appearance metrics and total appearance difference metrics by combining data from a variety of instruments.

The articles in this issue emphasize novel insights into color science and technology. Therefore, we recommend including such insights in the conclusions section of your article.

Authors are encouraged (but not required) to share the code and, if possible, the data they used for their investigation on GitHub. This will increase the impact of the findings and encourage readers to further engage with the content. Manuscripts in which authors have shared their code will be marked as such on the title page.

Dr. Eric J. J. Kirchner
Prof. Dr. Stephen Westland
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Technologies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.