To provide a common meeting place for scientists and researchers in China and in Japan to share their most recent research findings, ideas and developments in the broad area of visual computing, including computer vision, computer graphics, virtual reality, medical image analysis, and visualization.

The Symposium had over 200 people in attendance, including 20 invited speakers (11 of whom were from Japan); about 150 students and staff in Hunan University and from other local universities; and about 30 interested people from universities in other provinces.

Professor Yayang Tang (vice secretary of the Party, Hunan University) welcomed the attendees, gave a brief introduction to our university and recognized the purpose of the Symposium: to inspire our research abilities, boost our competitiveness in the field of visual computing, and develop our friendship between researchers in China and Japan. Professor Kunihiro Chihara (NAIST) and Professor Hongbin Zha (Beijing University) gave a speech on behalf of researchers in Japan and China, respectively. Professor Renfa Li (Hunan University) welcomed the participants and gave our special thanks to the invited speakers for their contributions, and for making the Symposium a high-level academic activity.

Professor Kunihiro Chihara (NAIST), Professor Xilin Chen (CAS), Professor Tomoyuki Nishita (The University of Tokyo), Professor Long Quan (HKUST), Professor Yoichi Sato (The University of Tokyo) and Professor Kun Zhou (Zhejiang University) gave keynote presentations, which were inspiring to all the participants. The other speakers, in particular Professor Baoquan Chen, Professor Koichiro Deguchi, Professor Long Quan, Professor Xin Tong, Professor Naokazu Yokoya and Professor Guofeng Zhang, gave very interesting presentations that captured the attention of the audience and stimulated lively question-and-answer periods. Through all the presentations at the Symposium, emerging topics and trends in visual computing research were highlighted and discussed.