Graphics and Vision

Graphics and Vision


Instructor: Prof. Jack Tumblin
Monday: computer graphics (computers make patterns of light we can ‘see’).
Wednesday: computer vision (computer ‘see’ patterns of light we can make).

Discussion Questions:

Monday
  • What is umwelt?
  • What is the relationship between umwelt and computer graphics?
  • What is the different between depiction and photo-realistic rendering?
  • What, exactly, is a picture? What distinguishes a rectangular picture from a non-picture arrangement of colors within a rectangle? What are its visually-essential components?
  • Are there kinds of depiction that don’t fit within Durand’s formalizations? Find some examples and share them on Piazza.
  • Compare picture making with and without a computer? What are the differences in tools? What is missing (or overly clumsy among current computer-assisted picture-making tools?
  • Can you see anything that your digital camera cannot?
  • High-quality, easily-searched online e-books, magazines, and images have decimated library attendance, but not museum attendance. Why not? Why does a visit reveal so much more than online photos?
  • How is computer graphics enabling us to see things that are unseeable?
  • Compare the ways displaying computer graphics by (a) a computer screen, (b) hololens, (c) Google Cardboard.
Wednesday
  • What makes computer vision really hard?
  • How is Li’s approach to computer vision different from the approach of the research that preceded her work?
  • What are some useful technologies that computer vision enables?
  • How will computer vision enable humans to be better at things?
  • How does Word Lens work?

 

Readings and Media:

Monday

Wednesday

XKCD: Tasks