The Canny Edge Detector is an image processing technique used to identify edges in images. It works by detecting areas where there is a rapid change in intensity, helping to outline objects within a picture. The process involves several steps, including noise reduction, gradient calculation, non-maximum suppression, and edge tracking by hysteresis. Developed by John F. Canny in 1986, this method is popular due to its effectiveness and accuracy. It is widely used in various applications, such as computer vision, robotics, and image analysis, making it a fundamental tool for understanding visual information in digital images.