COMP 776: Computer Vision

Spring 2009, T TH 9:30-10:45, SN 115

Instructor: Svetlana Lazebnik  (lazebnik -at- cs.unc.edu)

Quick links: syllabus, schedule, useful resources

Overview

In the simplest terms, computer vision is the discipline of "teaching machines how to see." This field dates back more than forty years, but the recent explosive growth of digital imaging technology makes the problems of automated image interpretation more exciting and relevant than ever. There are two major themes in the computer vision literature: 3D geometry and recognition. The first theme is about using vision as a source of metric 3D information: given one or more images of a scene taken by a camera with known or unknown parameters, how can we go from 2D to 3D, and how much can we tell about the 3D structure of the environment pictured in those images? The second theme, by contrast, is all about vision as a source of semantic information: can we recognize the objects, people, or activities pictured in the images, and understand the structure and relationships of different scene components just as a human would? This course will strive to provide a unified perspective on the different aspects of computer vision, and give students the ability to understand vision literature and implement components that are fundamental to many modern vision systems.

Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of probability, linear algebra, and calculus. MATLAB programming experience and previous exposure to image processing are desirable, but not required.

Textbook: Computer Vision: A Modern Approach by David Forsyth and Jean Ponce is the recommended textbook for the course. The instruction will follow this textbook very loosely. Many additional instructional materials will be used throughout the course.

Grading: Computer vision is a very hands-on subject. For this reason, the coursework will primarily consist of implementation (please make sure you have access to MATLAB with the Image Processing Toolbox installed). There will be three or four minor programming assignments and a larger final assignment which will most likely consist of a recognition competition (details to follow). Class participation will be another important component of the grade. This involves coming to class regularly, asking questions, and answering review questions. Without satisfactory participation, it will be impossible to get an "H" in the class. The weights assigned to different course components will be as follows:
  • Regular assignments: 50%
  • Final assignment: 30%
  • Participation: 20%

Syllabus

I. Image formation
  • Camera models
  • Light and color
  • Linear filters and edges
  • Feature extraction (corners and blobs)
II. Grouping and fitting
  • Hough transform
  • RANSAC
  • Alignment
III. Geometric vision
  • Camera calibration
  • Epipolar geometry
  • Two-view and multi-view stereo
  • Structure from motion
IV. Recognition
  • Bags of features
  • Generative and discriminative models
  • Face detection and recognition
V. "Miscellaneous"
  • Segmentation
  • Optical flow
  • Tracking

Schedule

Date Topic Readings, assignments
January 13 What is computer vision?
PPT (29MB), PDF (9MB) 		Resource: MATLAB tutorial
January 15 Cameras
PPT (15MB), PDF (3MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 1
January 20 Radiometry
PPT (14MB), PDF (1MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 4, 5
Homework: Assignment 1 out
January 22 Shape from shading (see slides from Jan. 20), color: PPT (13MB), PDF (3MB) Reading: F&P ch. 6
January 27 Color concluded (see slides from Jan. 22)  
January 29 Linear filtering
PPT (4MB), PDF (3MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 7
Assignment 1 due at 5 PM
February 3 Edge detection: PPT (4MB), PDF (2MB); corner detection Reading: F&P ch. 8
February 5 Corner and blob detection
PPT (8MB), PDF (3MB) 		Resource: Harris corner detector code
February 10 Feature extraction (see Feb. 5 slides); least squares (see Feb. 12 slides) Reading: F&P sec. 3.1
Homework: Assignment 2 out
February 12 Robust fitting, RANSAC
PPT (2MB), PDF (0.5MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 15
February 17 Hough transform: PPT (4MB), PDF (1MB); alignment  
February 19 Alignment concluded:
PPT (9MB), PDF (4MB) 		Reading: Distinctive image features from scale-invariant keypoints
February 24 Single-view geometry
PPT (1MB), PDF (1MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 2, 3
Assignment 2 due at 5 PM
February 26 Epipolar geometry and stereo
PPT (2MB), PDF (1MB) 		Reading: F&P sec. 10.1, ch. 11
Homework: Assignment 3 out
March 3 Binocular stereo
PPT (14MB), PDF (3MB) 		F&P ch. 11
March 5 Multi-view stereo
PPT (32MB), PDF (5MB) 		 
March 17 Structure from motion
PPT (4MB), PDF (1.5MB) 		Reading: F&P sec. 12.3, 12.4, 13.3.1, 13.4, 13.5
Assignment 3 due at 5 PM
Homework: Assignment 4 out
March 19 Intro to recognition
PPT (20MB), PDF (6MB) 		 
March 24 Recognition: Concepts and issues
PPT (14MB), PDF (4MB) 		Resource: ICCV 2005/CVPR 2007 Short Course on Object Recognition
March 26 Bags of features:
PPT (7MB), PDF (2MB) 		 
March 31 Discriminative models:
PPT (1MB), PDF (0.5MB) 		Reading: F&P sec. 22.1, 22.2, 22.5
Assignment 4 due at 5 PM
April 2 Generative models:
PPT (7MB), PDF (1.5MB) 		Homework: Assignment 5 out
April 7 Spatial models:
PPT (6MB), PDF (1.5MB) 		 
April 9 Eigenfaces:
PPT (3MB), PDF (1MB) 		Reading: F&P sec. 22.3
April 14 Face detection:
PPT (2.5MB), PDF (1MB) 		Reading: Robust Real-Time Face Detection
April 16 Segmentation:
PPT (11MB), PDF (3MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 14
April 21 Optical flow:
PPT (5MB), PDF (2MB) 		Assignment 5 due at 5 PM -- FIRM DEADLINE!
April 23 Tracking:
PPT (20MB), PDF (4MB) 		Reading: F&P ch. 17

Useful Resources

Tutorials, review materials

General reference

MATLAB reference

The real world

Acknowledgments

The course slides draw on materials generously made publicly available by D. Forsyth, J. Ponce, J. Koenderink, S. Seitz, R. Szeliski, B. Freeman, M. Pollefeys, D. Lowe, K. Grauman, A. Efros, F. Durand, L. Fei-Fei, A. Torralba, R. Fergus (and possibly others whose attributions I either couldn't find or omitted by my own negligence).