The three-volume set LNAI 3213, LNAI 3214, and LNAI 3215 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2004, held in Wellington, New Zealand in September 2004.
The over 450 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers present a wealth of original research results from the field of intelligent information processing in the broadest sense; among the areas covered are artificial intelligence, computational intelligence, cognitive technologies, soft computing, data mining, knowledge processing, various new paradigms in biologically inspired computing, and applications in various domains like bioinformatics, finance, signal processing etc.
We were very pleased to once again extend to the delegates and, we are pleased to say, our friends the warmest of welcomes to the International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems at Wellington Institute of Technology in Wellington, New Zealand.
The KES conferences attract a wide range of interest. The broad focus of the conference series is the theory and applications of computational intelligence and emergent technologies. Once purely a research field, intelligent systems have advanced to the point where their abilities have been incorporated into many conventional application areas. The quest to encapsulate human knowledge and capabilities in domains such as reasoning, problem solving, sensory analysis, and other complex areas has been avidly pursued. This is because it has been demonstrated that these abilities have definite practical applications. The techniques long ago reached the point where they are being exploited to provide commercial advantages for companies and real beneficial effects on profits. KES 2004 provided a valuable mechanism for delegates to obtain a profound view of the latest intelligent systems research into a range of algorithms, tools and techniques. KES 2004 also gave delegates the chance to come into contact with those applying intelligent systems in diverse commercial areas. The combination of theory and practice represents a uniquely valuable opportunity for appreciating the full spectrum of intelligent-systems activity and the “state of the art”.