# Relaxation Labeling **Domain:** Computer Vision / Constraint Satisfaction / Artificial Intelligence **Doc Type:** Technical Concept Node **Maturity:** Historical ## Definition **Relaxation labeling** iteratively revises the plausibility of locally possible interpretations according to their compatibility with neighboring hypotheses until a more globally coherent interpretation emerges. ## Hinton Context In [[wiki/Geoffrey Hinton|Geoffrey Hinton's]] 1970s vision work, supposition values assigned to competing interpretations were updated in parallel by a relaxation operator. This avoided explicit enumeration of every combined interpretation. ## Corpus Context [[articles/Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s|Modern Artificial Intelligence in the 1970s]] treats this as running machine intelligence rather than a prediction of later learning systems. ## See Also [[wiki/Combinatorial Explosion|Combinatorial Explosion]], [[wiki/Optimization Landscape|Optimization Landscape]], [[wiki/Computer Vision|Computer Vision]]