CSCI 2951-I:
Computer Vision for Graphics and Interaction

Fall 2024, MW 15:00 to 16:20, CIT 241

Instructor: James Tompkin

Contact

Everything is through Slack.
James' office hour appointment slot signups are here (top left).

Course Description

How does computer vision enable new interactive graphical applications, and how can we improve them?

Computer vision strives to understand, interpret, and reconstruct information about the real world from image and video data. Computer graphics models dynamic virtual worlds to be synthesized in realistic or stylized ways. In visual computing, these fields are converging since both disciplines create and exploit models describing the visual appearance of objects and scenes. Interaction allows us to explore these worlds, and to use ourselves and our environments directly as interfaces. Machine learning and deep learning allows us to define mappings between domains across vision, graphics, and interaction, and to generate new data such as images from recombining existing databases. Combined, these disciplines enable applications from the seemingly simple, like semantic photo editing, to the seemingly science fiction, like mixed reality, and are core to how we make computers interpret the visual world.

In this seminar course, we will discover the state of the art algorithmic contributions in computer vision which make these new applications possible. We will concentrate on recent research results that were published at top-tier conferences and journals from problem fields such as reconstruction of static and dynamic 3D scenes, computational photography and videography, multi-view camera systems, generative methods for image formation, and vision-based interaction devices. Each week, we will read state-of-the-art papers, present them, and discuss their contributions, impact, and limitations. Then, we will develop projects which implement and extend these ideas. Beyond computer vision, this course will help us learn how to quickly interpret and assess academic papers, and how to give effective and engaging presentations.

Please join us!

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will have:

1. Practical experience reading academic papers, and the skill to digest them quickly;
2. Created effective presentations to explain state-of-the-art techniques, by learning how to critique and how to respond to critique;
3. Formed, discussed, and evaluated many project ideas, and gained experience creating structured research project proposals;
4. Developed practical research project skills and demonstrated these on an unsolved computer vision problem;
5. Familiarity with the state of the art in reconstructing and generating images computationally.

Course Structure

The course is spilt into two halves. In the first half, we will read research papers, present them, and discuss their contributions, impact, and limitations. We will build upon our analyses and discussions to propose projects which would further the state of the art. Then, in the second half, we will try and do it: we will break into teams and implement projects which further the state of the art.

First Half—Review, Ideation, and Proposal

• We will read two papers per week, and think about their successes and limitations. For each paper, everyone will submit two+ questions plus a project ideas for discussion by noon on the day of the seminar. (3-6 hours per week)
• In class, we will present the papers. Each student will present at least once, and depending on enrollment this could be individually or in groups. Before the presentation, each student must meet with James to go over the work. (5 hours prep; 30 minute presentation)
• As a class, we will critique the presentation and discuss its strengths and how it could have been improved. (10 minutes)
• After the presentation, and based on the submitted questions, together we will discuss the papers in detail to understand them and to generate new ideas. (30 minutes)
• In groups, we will develop these ideas into project proposals to try to extend the state of the art. We will critique these proposals in class. (2 proposals; 8 hours per proposal; self-determined but cycling groups).

Second Half—Implementation

• Teams and projects will finalize.
• Teams will implement their research projects.
• In class, we will work together to resolve problems and integrate ideas. We will review and critique progress at regular intervals.
• Finally, we will present our projects to the rest of the visual computing group, and eat cake.

Grading

• 25% paper questions, contribution and improvement in discussion and critique.
• 25% presentation skill improvement and overall quality.
• 50% project effort and outcome.

Time Commitment

Capstone

This class can be taken as a capstone. Talk to James about the expected standard and additional work across the course.

Prerequisites

This is a graduate course, but undergraduates are welcome! As a graduate class, we expect you to be somewhat self-guided; be prepared to read beyond the course material, and to explore and discover for yourself. Students should know something about visual computing before taking this course, e.g., having taken an existing vision, graphics, or deep learning course. Any other interested students should get in touch with James!

• CSCI 1230 Introduction to Computer Graphics: Should be OK for more experienced students! Knowing something about machine/deep learning will help.
• CSCI 1290 Computational Photography: This is a hybrid graphics/vision course, so it should put you in good stead.
• CSCI 1300 Interface Design: It will be tough, unless you know some more fundamental techniques in visual computing.
• CSCI 1420 Machine Learning: Please expect to learn some graphics by yourself.
• CSCI 1430 Computer Vision / ENGN 1610 Image Understanding: Some of the graphics concepts may be tougher; this isn't primarily a 'recognition' course.
• CSCI 1470 Deep Learning: Many topics will touch on deep learning; please expect to learn about graphics.
• CSCI 2240 Interactive Computer Graphics: Great! Please expect to learn about machine/deep learning by yourself.

Late Submissions and Late Days

Due to the form of the class, there are no late submissions or late days. We expect you to attend every session, but let James know if you have any special requirements. For sickness and other issues of wellbeing, please obtain a note from health services and we will accommodate.

Course Notes

Paper Reading

We expect you to read every paper in preparation for the upcoming presentation and discussion. Reading these papers may be difficult initially, and students are not expected to understand everything. However, students are expected to actively engage in discussions to further their understanding of the presented material, with the help of the instructor and the class, within a supportive and creative atmosphere. Ideas that are developed during the seminar discussion are intended to directly influence your projects.

Paper Presentations

• What is the research context for this paper? What connections exist to previous work we have read?
• What is the research problem that this paper is trying to solve? Cut away the extraneous details and explain it in simple terms.
• What is the contribution over exist works, and how significant is this contribution?
• What was difficult to understand in their method? Any interesting nuance or tricks?
• How is the work validated, and in what areas could this be improved?
• What is good about the work?
• What are the limitations of the work? How could it be improved?
• What comes next?

Demos are welcome! Code or executables may be available for the techniques, and you should feel free to show them off. Likewise, for video material, but don't just play it without providing any insight.

Leading the Discussion

Each session, one student will be randomly selected as the discussion leader. They will receive a digest of the submitted questions before the seminar. Their goal is to briefly summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the technique, raise questions appropriately throughout the discussion, covers future work ideas, and keep order.

Reading References

How to Read and Present Academic Papers:

• Reading Slides PDF 2MB
• Keshav, How to Read a Paper, SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review (2007) DOI
• Fong, Reading a Computer Science Research Paper, SIGCSE Bulletin (2009) DOI
• McGuire, How to Read [Rendering] Research Papers, UWaterloo Advanced Ray Tracing Course (2019) PPTX
• Presenting Slides PPTX 10MB / PDF 4MB
• Fatahalian, Tips for Giving Clear Talks
• McGuire, How to Present a Research Paper, UWaterloo Advanced Ray Tracing Course (2019) PPTX

Further reading material:

• General terminology:
• Dictionary of Computer Vision and Image Processing, by Fisher et al. If you find a word or concept that you do not understand, then please consider looking here. Note: Full text is available in 'Online Resources' section.
• Python Numpy
• Python Programmer—Numpy in 5 minutes [YouTube]
• UCSB Numpy Tutorial
• Numpy Tutorial: A Simple Example-based Guide
• Linear Algebra:
• Immersive Linear Algebra, by J. Ström, K. Åström, and T. Akenine-Möller. Interactive visualizations!
• 3 Blue 1 Brown—http://www.3blue1brown.com/ | Geometric interpretation—Linear Algebra playlist
• Stanford CS229 review—http://cs229.stanford.edu/section/cs229-linalg.pdf
• Probability:
• Seeing Theory—http://students.brown.edu/seeing-theory/
• Magnusson—Bayesian Inference—http://rpsychologist.com/d3/bayes/
• Image processing:
• Powell—Kernels—http://setosa.io/ev/image-kernels/
• Neural Networks and Machine Learning:
• Michael Nielson—http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com/
• Chris Olah—http://colah.github.io/
• Distill—http://distill.pub/
• Wei—practical advice—http://lamda.nju.edu.cn/weixs/project/CNNTricks/CNNTricks.html
• Multi-view Geometry:
• Hartley and Zisserman—Multiple View Geometry in Computer Vision or online @ Brown Library

Tentative Schedule

General Policy

Welcome!

Our intent is that this course provide a welcoming environment for all students who satisfy the prerequisites. Our TAs have undergone training in diversity and inclusion, and all members of the CS community, including faculty and staff, are expected to treat one another in a professional manner. If you feel you have not been treated in a professional manner by any of the course staff, please contact any of James (the instructor), John Hughes (Dept. Chair), Tom Doeppner (Director of Undergraduate Studies), David Laidlaw (Director of Graduate Studies), or Laura Dobler (diversity and inclusion staff member). We will take all complaints about unprofessional behavior seriously. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let James know of ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups. To access student support services and resources, and to learn more about diversity and inclusion in CS, please visit http://cs.brown.edu/about/diversity/resources/.

Prof. Krishnamurthi has good notes on this area.

Quiet Hours

This class runs quiet hours from 9pm to 9am every day. Please do not expect a response from us via any channel. Likewise, we won't ask you to do anything between these times, either, like hand in projects.

Academic Integrity, Collaboration, and Citation

Feel free to talk to your friends about the concepts in the projects, and work through the ideas behind problems together, but be sure to always write your own code and perform your own write up. You are expected to implement the core components of each project on your own, but the extra credit opportunties often build on third party data sets or code. Feel free to include results built on other software, as long as you credit correctly in your handin and clearly demark your own work. In general, if you use an idea, text, or code from elsewhere, then cite it.

Brown-wide, academic dishonesty is not tolerated. This includes cheating, lying about course matters, plagiarism, or helping others commit a violation. Plagiarism includes reproducing the words of others without both the use of quotation marks and citation. Students are reminded of the obligations and expectations associated with the Brown Academic and Student Conduct Codes.

Accommodations

Brown University is committed to full inclusion of all students. Please inform me if you have a disability or other condition that might require accommodations or modification of any of these course procedures. You may email me, come to office hours, or speak with me after class, and your confidentiality is respected. We will do whatever we can to support accommodations recommended by SEAS. For more information contact Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS) at 401-863-9588 or . Students in need of short-term academic advice or support can contact one of the deans in the Dean of the College office.

Mental Health

Being a student can be very stressful. If you feel you are under too much pressure or there are psychological issues that are keeping you from performing well at Brown, we encourage you to contact Brown's Counseling and Psychological Services. They provide confidential counseling and can provide notes supporting extensions on assignments for health reasons.

Incomplete Policy

We expect everyone to complete the course on time. However, we certainly understand that there may be factors beyond your control, such as health problems and family crises, that prevent you from finishing the course on time. If you feel you cannot complete the course on time, please discuss with James Tompkin the possibility of being given a grade of Incomplete for the course and setting a schedule for completing the course in the upcoming year.

Electronic Etiquette

Laptops are discouraged, please, except for class-relevant activities, e.g., to help answer questions and show items relevant to discussion. No social media, email, etc., because it distracts not just you but other students as well. Read Shirky on this issue ("Why I Just Asked My Students to Put Their Laptops Away"), or Rockmore ("The Case for Banning Laptops in the Classroom").

We will release course lecture material online. In considering laptop use for note taking, please be aware that research has shown note taking on paper to be more efficient than on a laptop keyboard (Mueller and Oppenheimer), as it pushes you to summarize the content instead of transcribe it.

Acknowledgements

Portions of this seminar design are from Stefanie Tellex's CSCI 2951-R course, from Christian Theobalt and his CVfCG course @ Max-Planck-Institute for Informatics, with special thanks to Christian Richardt. Thanks also to James Hays and CSCI2951-T Data-Driven Computer Vision course @ Brown University, with special thanks to Genevieve Patterson.

Thanks to Karras et al. (StyleGAN, CVPR 2019) and to Dmitry Nikitko, whose software I used to make the Brown CS faculty bust teaser.

Thanks to Tom Doeppner and Laura Dobler for the text on accommodation, mental health, and incomplete policy.

Thank you to the previous students who helped to improve this class. Previous course runs:

• 2022 Fall
• 2019 Fall
• 2018 Spring
• 2017 Fall