Introduction
There has been a move recently in information technology and computer science from a machine-centred approach to a human-centred and knowledge-based approach. Keywords such as ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence, and cloud computing are used more and more to describe tomorrow’s paradigm of computing. In these systems, for instance, interacting with the user is often done in an implicit way, by reacting to the user’s behaviour. Examples of such systems are smart environments in which the user’s behaviour is perceived through sensors and then used to perform an action that adequately responds to that behaviour.

Behaviour recognition has a multitude of facets. From the computational point of view there is the question of how to detect human behaviour reliably from the sensor data that is available. A second facet of behaviour recognition is concerned with the applications in which it is used. Some applications are more critical than others, and therefore, less tolerant to errors in the recognition process. The application-oriented aspects of behaviour recognition are closely related to the third facet of research in this area: the social, ethical, and legal implications. Monitoring people in their own homes is generally only acceptable if it is done in a non-obtrusive way and if the information gathered is only passed on to a very select group of people.

Objective of the Book
Our book aims to cover the computational aspects, the primary applications where it is of importance, and the social, ethical, and legal implications of behaviour recognition.

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit a 2-3 page chapter proposal, clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter, to h.w.guesgen@massey.ac.nz by February 16, 2010. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by end of February about the status of their proposals. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2011.

Important Dates
Full chapter Submission: April 16, 2010
Review Results to Authors: June 30, 2010
Revised Chapter Submission: July 30, 2010
Final Acceptance Notifications: August 15, 2010
Submission of Final Chapters: August 31, 2010

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