The rise in popularity of products and interfaces which use computer vision has not been matched by a rise in usability of frameworks which present computer vision methods to end-users, hobbyists, general developers or researchers outside the field. This position paper presents a work-in-progress set of design guidelines geared towards developer-centred interfaces in order to help provide computer vision in an intuitive and accessible manner. The guidelines were developed through examination of previous work in computer vision and human-computer interaction, analysis of vision problems and inspiration from successful abstractions in other fields, and are intended as a positive reflection on the current state of computer vision interfaces. Our key guideline states that developer interfaces to computer vision must hide details regarding specific algorithms, and we discuss the implications of frameworks which support this guideline.

Presented at the International Workshop on Human Computer Interaction at the International Conference on Computer Vision in Barcelona, November 2011.