In the vast and unbounded scope of extant literature of such obvious salience, this work truly stands out as indispensably sui generis (in a class of its own), and sine qua non (unsurpassed and essential). A survey of the literature underscores this claim, to an unsurpassed degree.  For the majority of resources on AI and robotics is partitioned into mutually exclusive categories that prove themselves unsatisfactory, in their degrees and extent of partiality. Indeed, there is no lack of abundance of conference proceedings, technical monographs, and texts, on the one hand which cater to specific and often esoteric problem domains at the expense of context and clarity. Whereas, on the other hand, one must wade through a deluge of broad commentary sources catering to general claims that abstract away from the truly unique methodological principles and practices that render the field of AI and robotics truly unique and revolutionary in its own right.

Beril Sirmacek-Kallfelz’s Seeing Beyond; The Power of AI and Computer Vision in Robotics avoids all these pitfalls marked by partiality, and triviality. What the reader is gifted with when pursuing its perspicuous passages, is a work of breathtaking scope and vision, which never loses footing in the concrete particulars, and which make no undue demands, nor assumes any background expertise on the reader’s part. Beril Sirmacek-Kallfelz is a world authority on computer vision, AI, and robotics, and herein she draws from every area of her scientific passion and expertise to communicate in the clearest and most elegant terms possible, the educational heuristics which are relevant and accessible across the spectrum–from the K-12 level to senior researcher. 

The remarkable feature of this book is evident in its comprehensive unity and versatility. From its first chapters, in tour de force fashion, the reader is drawn into a comprehensive and systematic overview of the status of the field of robotics past, present, and future projections, which insightfully articulate on the technical achievements alongside broader social and ethical ramifications. The style is perspicuous, and without a trace of the didactic. The reader, whether an expert or a lay novice, will be equally enthralled when following the exciting developments Beril Sirmacek-Kallfelz is able to convey with infectious enthusiasm. Such a vast corpus of material is presented in an elegant, precise, and entertaining manner, so that each chapter becomes a joy to read, self-contained and still building on the next, and the book itself becomes very difficult to put aside!

Also brilliantly innovative is the organization of topics: Rather than follow a simple historical or chronological order, it's the design logic and innovation that ultimately determines the overall architecture of topics. This serves multiple salient purposes for a variety of different reading audiences. To the curious novice, each section solidly builds on new design concepts and terms with a variety of clearly developed examples: This only intensifies the level of activity of inquiry of the reader while naturally appealing to their confidence to plumb the material into greater technical depth (for instance in chapters 2 and 3). To the expert, the organization of topics flows seamlessly in such a manner as to allow autonomy in selecting which tutorials to begin their programming and constructing. This book is no mere overview or encyclopedic treatise, rather it introduces the topic of computer vision qua AI and robotics from a bottom-up constructive account, internal to the methodologies of design.

The tutorials and the projects are also phased in judiciously, well after the essential and fascinating topics have been covered in chapters 1 through 6. This ensures that the on-ramp does not follow an excessively steep learning curve: The novice, for instance, can work on any of the projects and tutorials in robotic vision in Raspberry Pi introduced in chapter 7 with the same ease as the expert. By the same token, the expert may as well begin at chapter 7, or chapters 8 and 9, in hands-on robotic applications using Arduino Uno, or automation projects with Arduino, respectively. Each of the chapters are free-standing in terms of their essential and technical content. Nevertheless, the topics already introduced in chapter 1, characteristic of the core concepts in the field, are sufficiently well-integrated and interwoven in the technical sections as to present a seamless and interdependent unity.

The work is truly an interdisciplinary and interdimensional unity, appealing to multiple levels of detail in a manner in which every essential notion and term is perspicuously explained and elucidated, in a brisk and accessible manner for any reader. Though serving far more than a sourcebook or desk reference, the topics covered in sufficient breadth and depth make it an ideal reference, as well as a textbook for any introductory-level or intermediate-level course in robotics, for the advanced secondary-level, vocational-technical, or university-level course. And above and beyond the technical projects introduced in chapters 6-8, every section in every chapter comes with a broad assortment of questions for the reader to ponder and reflect on. Indeed, this is also what makes the work trans-disciplinary: A humanities course in the philosophy or sociology of technology should appropriate this work as a core textbook, as the flow of the topics integrate practically in every paragraph sufficient and thought-provoking content from the standpoint of ethics, history, and the social sciences.

Brilliantly and boldly conceived and elegantly articulated, this book is destined to be an instant classic. Accessible to any reader, Beril Sirmacek-Kallfelz’s endeavor presents this fundamental and technologically essential subject, in unified and particular ways that satisfy the fundamental what, how, and (most importantly) why questions surrounding the topic of AI, robotics, and computer vision. In laser-beam focus, the book cuts through all the haze of misconceptions and misinformation that often accompanies the inception of a revolutionary technological innovation. It is my opinion that this book should be made required reading in any engineering, scientific, or humanities curriculum, as well as serving a fundamental contribution to the public. A truly remarkable and unprecedented contribution, Beril Sirmacek-Kallfelz’s work shall inform and shape policy and research and development in this exciting field, rife with promise, for decades to come and beyond, and is an essential contribution truly ahead of its time.

William Michael Kallfelz, Ph.D.