  VLTi Spectro-Imager (VSI) is a proposition for a second generation VLTI
instrument which is aimed at providing the ESO community with the capability of
performing image synthesis at milli-arcsecond angular resolution. VSI provides
the VLTI with an instrument able to combine 4 telescopes in a baseline version
and optionally up to 6 telescopes in the near-infrared spectral domain with
moderate to high spectral resolution. The instrument contains its own fringe
tracker in order to relax the constraints onto the VLTI infrastructure. VSI
will do imaging at the milli-arcsecond scale with spectral resolution of: a)
the close environments of young stars probing the initial conditions for planet
formation; b) the surfaces of stars; c) the environment of evolved stars,
stellar remnants and stellar winds, and d) the central region of active
galactic nuclei and supermassive black holes. The science cases allowed us to
specify the astrophysical requirements of the instrument and to define the
necessary studies of the science group for phase A.
