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COMP_SCI 396: Advanced Graphics Seminar

This course is not currently offered.

Prerequisites

Interested students need to apply via the following Google Form: https://forms.gle/33Q94VyBiZkxY9DS9. Completion of one or more of these courses, or graduate enrollment: • COMP_SCI 331 Introduction to Computational Photography • ELEC_ENG 395/495 Computational Photography Seminar • COMP_SCI 351-1 Introduction to Computer Graphics • COMP_SCI 351-2 Intermediate Computer Graphics • ELEC_ENG 332 Computer Vision COMP_SCI 396, 496: Deep Learning ELEC_ENG 495: Statistical Optics ELEC_ENG 495: Statistical Optics ELEC_ENG 420: Digital Image Processing

Description

What is the long-term outlook for the field of Computer Graphics, Vision and Imaging? How will computer graphics and computational photography advance beyond their current state? What are the ‘dead end’ methods, and what approaches are most likely to transform the field and have a lasting impact?

This broad-ranging survey of recently published research papers in computer graphics and computational photography will attempt to identify and explore new directions and important emerging topics in computer-assisted synthesis, capture, display, analysis, and assessment of visual information.

This course is intended for undergraduate students who are interested in the field of Computer Graphics, Vision and Imaging and who would like to pursue a graduate degree in these fields. This course should help students learn how to “survive” as a young researcher in the world of graphics.

Part 1: Keynote speakers from researchers in academia and industry

In addition to in-class presentations and discussions, we will have several “keynote lectures” by invited researchers from within and outside of Northwestern (spanning various topics in Graphics/Vision/Photography). This is a unique opportunity for students to learn about state-of-the-art research and engage in discussions with experts in their respective fields.

Part 2: Student-led self-study and topic presentations

In the initial ‘idea gathering’ phase, students work together in small groups (2 to 3 students/group) to identify a graphics topic of their interest. For this, we will build a bibliography from recent juried papers published at reputable conferences (e.g. SIGGRAPH, CVPR, ICCV) and journals ( e.g. TCI, Nature portfolio, JOIG) and prioritize them by titles and abstracts. The presentations are followed with class discussions to identify specific topics that are likely to yield significant advances and have long-term impact.

At the end of the “idea gathering” phase each student group will have performed a broad literature review and present a general overview of the chosen topic in a joint group presentation ( ~ 10 min / student). The presentations will be pre-recorded and distributed to the whole class prior to class. During class time we will discuss the presentations. Each presentation will be peer-reviewed by the student body. The quality of the reviews will be assessed and graded.

Part 3: Creation of small tutorials

In the second ‘in-depth study’ phase, each student group will work on creating a tutorial on their chosen topic. This tutorial can be broad (e.g. explaining general concepts of Style Transfer and their applications), but it can also be more specific to a special technique (e.g. SIREN https://www.vincentsitzmann.com/siren/ ). The tutorial will be written with the Jupyter Notebook Framework. In the final two weeks, the finished tutorials will be distributed among the other student groups and each group will provide feedback using a peer-review system.

Possible Topics to Explore (This is only a very, very small subset):

COURSE GOALS:

  • Familiarity with a broad set of current research topics and methods in computer graphics, computational photography and computer vision. Develop a fair understanding of their connections and relationships to other fields
  • Ability to discuss cogently the strengths, weaknesses and applicability of the methods to broader problems
  • Readiness and/or motivation to pursue research work in at one or more student-selected topic areas

Grades:

The final grade will be a combination of the following:

  • Class participation and engagement ( we don’t expect you to be or become experts in graphics/visionr. Instead, we expect you to show interest in learning about new topics!)
  • In-class presentation: “Overview” of your topic
  • Project: Topic “Tutorial” as an interactive Jupyter Notebook (Python)
  • Peer reviews: You will provide (constructive) feedback to your peers. The quality of your feedback will be graded
Your performance in these categories will be assessed throughout the quarter and the instructor will decide on the final grade based on your overall performance in class.

 

Why do you need a permission number?

This seminar is limited to a small group of 10 to 15 students. The Advanced graphics will be an interactive class focusing on discussions between instructor and students rather than a classical “lecture style” course. Hence, we are looking for highly motivated students eager to learn about recent graphic/vision research (there will be assignments throughout the quarter) and who do not shy away from active discussions / engagement inside and outside of class time.

Since we expect a high demand for the summer quarter, we require a small application for this course which is done via this google form: https://forms.gle/33Q94VyBiZkxY9DS9

COURSE COORDINATORS: Prof. Jack Tumblin

COURSE INSTRUCTOR : Prof. Florian Schiffers