Professor Fisher in the spotlight
This month’s University Staff Spotlight features Informatics’ own Professor Robert Fisher.
Now holder of the Chair in Computer Vision, Professor Fisher first came to Edinburgh in 1980 to do a PhD and stayed on to become an academic in what was originally the Department of Artificial Intelligence.
The article by the University’s Alumni Services team summarises Professor Fisher’s career, highlighting his work on:
- high speed 3D video capture and analysis of bats, as part of a consortium investigating methods to improve robot sonar
- the computer algorithms for Dermofit, a web-based tool that helps medical staff diagnose skin cancer
- robotics and vision technologies necessary to prototype a garden robot.

“I find teaching particularly rewarding”
As well as talking about his research, Professor Fisher is quoted in the article as saying:
“I find teaching particularly rewarding: even if you do some great piece of research, someone else will have superseded that work within a few years. However, if you teach a student well, no matter whether they are a strong student or not, then you have made an impact that can last 40-50 years.”
Related links
Bob Fisher's Research in a Nutshell
Dermofit - A Cognitive Training Tool to Aid Focal Skin Lesion Diagnosis