Theoretical issues in the design of visual inspection systems

The objective of this review essay is to both chronicle and analyse literature in the area of visual inspection. Classical as well as contemporary papers are included to describe both the historical development and the state of the art of visual inspection theories and technologies. Human operators, despite well-documented problems, often perform visual inspection. While supervized machine systems obviate some of the problems associated with human inspectors, other problems still exist. In particular, accounting for a supervisor’s perception of a machine’s performance (as gauged, e.g. by trust) and consequent actions. The difficulties associated with these two alternatives have led to the emergence of a third alternative: collaborative human/machine or hybrid systems, which combine the advantages of both alternatives—in theory. However, in practice, how to best distribute the functions between a human and machine, in a dynamic environment in real time, is problematic. Moreover, a human’s perceptions of its counterpart’s performance remain an issue. These unresolved problems are subjects for future research. In the interim, the alternatives are critiqued to create a basis for establishing guidelines to select the alternative that is best suited for a given situation. © 2004 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.