# Peter Mowforth

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British artificial intelligence researcher, robotics expert and businessman (born 1953)

Peter Heward Mowforth Mowforth in 2023 Born (1953-10-27) 27 October 1953 (age 72)[1] Sheffield, England[2] Education University of Cambridge[2] University of Sheffield[2] Occupation Businessman Known for Ecommerce, AI, Robotics, Computer Vision Title Director of Research Turing Institute[2][3][4] CEO of INDEZ Ltd[1][4][5] Spouse Gillian Mowforth Children Joss and Lara Parent(s) Cyril Mowforth, Olga Mowforth[6]

**Peter Mowforth** (born 27 October 1953) is a British businessman, [ecommerce](/source/E-commerce) specialist and Chief Executive of INDEZ Ltd,[7] an ecommerce agency based in [Scotland](/source/Scotland). Formerly a [Machine Learning](/source/Machine_Learning), [Robotics](/source/Robotics) and [Artificial Intelligence](/source/Artificial_Intelligence) research scientist who co-founded the [Turing Institute](/source/Turing_Institute).[8][9] He set up and ran the [First Robot Olympics](/source/First_Robot_Olympics).[10]

## Early life and education

Peter Mowforth was born in [Sheffield](/source/Sheffield), England on 27 October 1953. He studied [neurophysiology](/source/Neurophysiology) and physics in London. With [Royal Society](/source/Royal_Society) funding he moved to the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) to research early visual perception mechanisms with [Horace Barlow](/source/Horace_Barlow).[11] Mowforth earned a PhD from the [University of Sheffield](/source/University_of_Sheffield) on the theory and [psychophysics](/source/Psychophysics) of [stereo vision](/source/Stereo_vision).[12]

## Career

He joined the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh)'s Department of [Machine Intelligence & Perception](https://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/about/AIhistory.html) in 1982 to study the application of machine learning to robot vision.[13]

Following new funding from the US in response to [Japan's Fifth Generation project](/source/Fifth_Generation_Computer_Systems),[14] Mowforth along with Professor [Donald Michie](/source/Donald_Michie) and Tim Niblett, Mowforth jointly founded the [Turing Institute](/source/Turing_Institute)[15] named in memory of [Alan Turing](/source/Alan_Turing) who had worked alongside Michie at [Bletchley Park](/source/Bletchley_Park).[16] The Institute then moved from Edinburgh to Glasgow. It formed a partnership with the University of Strathclyde where Mowforth held an honorary lectureship.[17]

In 1990, Mowforth founded the [First Robot Olympics](/source/First_Robot_Olympics).[18] The event ran from 27 to 28 September, involved teams from 12 different countries in a variety of competitions, had over 2,500 visitors and is features in the [Guinness Book of Records](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-robot-olympics).

He was Director of the [British Machine Vision Association](https://www.bmva.org) (1991-1993)[19] where he organised and ran the British Machine Vision Conference in 1991.[20]

After the dissolution of the [Turing Institute](/source/Turing_Institute), Mowforth co-founded INDEZ, in 1995.

Mowforth provides advice to the Scottish Government on matters concerned with ecommerce and trade.[21]

## Research

Mowforth's PhD research conceived a Multi-Scale Signal Matching (MSSM) approach to match stereo pairs of images using a Gaussian Pyramid.[22] This approach was then tested using psychophysics to measure the human vergence eye response.[12]

The MSSM software platform for matching images evolved over the next decade where it was used for a variety of commercial applications including 3D stereo reconstruction,[23] GIS,[24] surgical planning for Maxillo-Facial reconstruction,[25] dental archiving,[20] Data Fusion,[26] MRI image labelling[27] and navigation for mobile robotics.[28]

In 1983, Mowforth was part of the machine learning team that worked on the [NASA](/source/NASA) [Space Shuttle](/source/Space_Shuttle) auto-lander project. The system used a structured version of the [ID3](/source/ID3_algorithm) Machine Learning system using training examples created using a numerical model of the shuttle.[29]

At the [Turing Institute](/source/Turing_Institute) Mowforth was involved with a series of advanced [robotics](/source/Robotics) projects[30][31] including robot navigation, robot sensing and using robots to learn the naïve physics of handling objects through random play.[32]

## Media appearances

In 1990 Mowforth was interviewed by [Lorraine Kelly](/source/Lorraine_Kelly) on [TV-am](/source/TV-am) about the [First Robot Olympics](/source/First_Robot_Olympics) and the future of [robotics](/source/Robotics).[33]

After the death of his parents he shared their letters sent during the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) with a local historical association, which led to significant media interest and television appearances, including on *[The One Show](/source/The_One_Show)*.[34] The letters were adapted into an 8-part podcast series.[35][36]

He has written about the importance of ecommerce for trade.[37]

## Personal life

Mowforth lives at [Heatherbank House](/source/Heatherbank_House), [Milngavie](/source/Milngavie), Glasgow.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-CoyCheck_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-CoyCheck_1-1) ["About Dr Peter Heward Mowforth"](https://companycheck.co.uk/director/905578092/DR-PETER-HEWARD-MOWFORTH/summary). *Company Check*. Retrieved 5 March 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-book_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-book_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-book_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-book_2-3) McGhee, J.; Grimble, M. J.; Mowforth, P. (1990). [*Knowledge-based Systems for Industrial Control*](https://shop.theiet.org/kb-syst-indust-cont). London: Peter Peregrinus Ltd. p. About the Authors. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-86341-221-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-86341-221-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-IndiaAI_3-0)** Jeevanandam, Nivash (14 November 2022). ["AI Insights – Traversing the Turing Institute"](https://indiaai.gov.in/article/traversing-the-turing-institute). *India AI*. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EcommerceNews_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EcommerceNews_4-1) Murden, Terry (3 February 2022). ["Institute outlines £55bn e-commerce opportunity"](https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2020/02/institute-outlines-55bn-e-commerce-opportunity/). *The Herald (Glasgow)*. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Indez_5-0)** ["About Us"](https://www.indez.com/about-us). *INDEZ*. Retrieved 5 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-parents_6-0)** ["Good Evening Sweetheart: real-life romance of young couple separated by WWII"](https://www.history.org.uk/ha-news/categories/455/news/3733/good-evening-sweetheart-real-life-romance-of-youn). *Historical Association*. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["INDEZ LTD overview - Find and update company information"](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC168562). *find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk*. Retrieved 1 August 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Montealegre, Angelica Agredo (2018). ["Historic Government policy on artificial intelligence in the United Kingdom"](https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldai/100/10018.htm). *Houses of Parliament; Publications and Records*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Jeevanandam, Nivash (2022). ["AI Insights - Traversing the Turing Institute"](https://indiaai.gov.in/article/traversing-the-turing-institute). *Indiaai: Indian Government website*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Willard, Tim (17 July 1991). ["No Relay Race on This Olympic Field"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-17-fi-2345-story.html). *Los Angeles Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Donald, Colin (2014). ["Connected: the scientist whose life inspires a major new film, an obscure research unit in Scotland, flying the space shuttle and the invention of the internet"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/13189678.connected-scientist-whose-life-inspires-major-new-film-obscure-research-unit-scotland-flying-space-shuttle-invention-internet/). *The Glasgow Herald*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_12-1) Mowforth, Peter (1982) "Vergence Eye Movement Control", PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield, UK

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Mowforth, Peter (1986). ["Some applications with inductive expert system shells"](https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?&title=Some%20Applications%20with%20Inductive%20Expert%20Systems%20Shells&publication_year=1986&author=Mowforth%2CP.). *Turing Institute Research Memo TIOP-86-002* – via The Turing Institute.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Montgomery, Penni (1988). ["An overview of contract research at the Turing Institute"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0954181088900428). *Artificial Intelligence in Engineering*. **3** (1): 46–48. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/0954-1810(88)90042-8](https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0954-1810%2888%2990042-8) – via Elsevier Science Direct.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Donald, Colin (16 November 2014). ["Connected: the scientist whose life inspires a major new film, an obscure research unit in Scotland, flying the space shuttle and the invention of the internet"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/13189678.connected-scientist-whose-life-inspires-major-new-film-obscure-research-unit-scotland-flying-space-shuttle-invention-internet/). *The Herald (Glasgow)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Wright, Matt (9 March 2020). ["Donald Michie (1923-2007): 'Duckmouse', a modern-day polymath"](https://blogs.bl.uk/science/2020/03/donald-michie-1923-2007-duckmouse-a-modern-day-polymath.html#:~:text=During%20his%20time%20at%20Bletchley,be%20taught%20to%20play%20chess%3F). *British Library Science Blog*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Pike, Rachel (2012). ["The Turing Institute"](https://atom.lib.strath.ac.uk/turing-institute).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Gavaghan, Helen (1990). ["Mechanical athletes totter towards Olympic glory"](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12817373-700-science-mechanical-athletes-totter-towards-olympic-glory/). *New Scientist*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Peter Heward Mowforth Appointments"](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/9dSrLDPr5Og4vyeCDSKFXzyu2lc/appointments). *Companies House UK*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_20-1) Mowforth, Peter (Ed.) (1991). *British Machine Vision Conference*. University of Glasgow: Springer-Verlag. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-540-19715-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-540-19715-X).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Scottish Government Economy & Fair Work Committee"](https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report/search-what-was-said-in-parliament/chamber-and-committees/official-report/what-was-said-in-parliament/meeting-of-parliament-04-05-2022?meeting=13731&iob=124621). *Scottish Government Select Committee*. 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Mowforth, Peter (April 1982). *Vergence Eye Movement Control*. University of Sheffield: University of Sheffield.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Urquhart, Colin (1997). ["PhD Thesis: The Active Stereo Probe: The Design and Implementation of an Active Videometrics System"](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/266981379.pdf) (PDF). *Core.ac.uk*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Mowforth, Peter (1992). ["Data Conversion for GIS"](http://b2.cvl.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/mva/proceedings/CommemorativeDVD/1992/papers/1992403.pdf) (PDF). *IAPR: Workshop on Machine Vision Applications*: 403–406 – via dblp.org.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Mowforth, P.H.; Ayoub, Ashraf (1995). ["3D imaging system for clinical applications"](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/84911/). *Medical Electronics*. 59–63: 59–63 – via Enlighten.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Mowforth, Peter; Shapiro, Jonathan (1990). "3D Data fusion for a mobile robot". *IEEE International Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Towards a New Frontier of Applications*. pp. 1015–1020. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1109/IROS.1990.262529](https://doi.org/10.1109%2FIROS.1990.262529) – via IEEE.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Mowforth, Peter (1990). ["Model Based Tissue Differentiation in MR Brain Images"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/197140099000300111?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.3). *The Neuroradiology Journal*. **3** (1): 95–103. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1177/197140099000300111](https://doi.org/10.1177%2F197140099000300111) – via Sage Journals.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Mowforth, Peter (1992). ["Towards an active perception"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/026288569290058B). *Image and Vision Computing*. **10** (7): 466. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/0262-8856(92)90058-B](https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0262-8856%2892%2990058-B) – via Elsevier Science Direct.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** Singla, S; Malik, H (2019). ["Space Shuttle Landing Control Using Supervised Machine Learning"](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-13-1822-1_32). *Applications of Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Engineering*. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. Vol. 697. pp. 349–356. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-981-13-1822-1_32](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-981-13-1822-1_32). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-981-13-1821-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-981-13-1821-4) – via Springer.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** McClelland, Stephen (1987). ["Advanced robotics: the view from the Turing"](https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/eb004975/full/html). *Industrial Robot*. **14** (1): 33–36. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1108/eb004975](https://doi.org/10.1108%2Feb004975) – via MCB.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Mowforth, Peter; Bratko, Ivan (1987). ["AI and Robotics; Flexibility and Integration"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/robotica/article/abs/ai-and-robotics-flexibility-and-integration/9B7732C5E1B827A0B1866BAE940782C3). *Robotica*. **5** (2): 93–98. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/S0263574700015058](https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0263574700015058) – via Cambridge University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** Zrimec, Tatjana (1991). ["Learning by an autonomous agent in the pushing domain"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/092188909190012A). *Robotics and Autonomous Systems*. **8** (1–2): 19–29. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/0921-8890(91)90012-A](https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0921-8890%2891%2990012-A) – via Elsevier Science Direct.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** TV-AM on YouTube, ["Lorraine Kelly interviewing Peter Mowforth about the Robot Olympics"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I37bUBVM854), Jan 5, 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** ["BBC: The One Show; Good Evening Sweetheart"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lPJ2BsYmX0). *Youtube*. 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** ["Letters of Love in WW2"](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/letters-of-love-in-ww2/id1465879260). *Apple: Podcasts*. 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Davidson, Marie (2010). ["Glasgow & West Scotland Branch: Good Evening Sweetheart"](https://www.history.org.uk/podcasts/categories/434/podcast/550/branch-podcast-good-evening-sweetheart). *Historical Association: The Voice for History*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** Mowforth, Peter (2024). ["Why Scotland needs to get on board the e-commerce express"](https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/24055666.scotland-needs-get-board-e-commerce-express/). *The Glasgow Herald*. p. 8.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Mowforth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mowforth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mowforth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.