CS 786: Advanced Computer Vision
3 credits (Lecture 3 + Lab 0)
Fall 2015
Instructor: Dr. Mircea Nicolescu
E-mail: mircea@cse.unr.edu
Phone: (775) 784-4356
Office: SEM 232
Office hours: Thursday: 1:00pm-4:00pm
Class webpage: http://www.cse.unr.edu/~mircea/Teaching/cs786/
Lectures:
Tuesday, Thursday: 11:00am-12:15pm, MSS 241
Labs:
none
Important Notes and Dates:
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Final project presentations: TBA
Required Textbook:
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none
Supplemental Books:
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none
Course Description:
Catalog:
Projective geometry, 3-D reconstruction from multiple views. Motion analysis and
tracking. Object, face and gesture recognition, biometrics, human-computer interaction.
Image and video understanding.
Prerequisites:
Courses:
 CS 485/685 (Computer Vision)
Topics:
 A solid mathematical background and good programming skills are essential.
Course Objective:
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental principles underlying
computer vision and demonstrate an ability to use these principles in a variety of visionrelated applications.
Graduate Student Outcomes and Course Outcomes:
The course outcomes are skills and abilities students should have acquired by the end of the
course. These outcomes determine how the general CSE Graduate Student Outcomes apply
specifically to this course. All CSE Graduate Student Outcomes are listed in the next
subsection and those relevant to this course are identified in the following Table.
CSE Graduate
Student Outcomes
Course Outcomes
Assessment
Methods/Metrics
a
Students are capable to
understand and apply state
of the art methods in
computer vision (for 3D
reconstruction, tracking,
recognition, etc).
Project.
b
Students must be able to
design and conduct
experimental validation for
a computational approach to
a computer vision problem,
and interpret the results to
assess the performance
(accuracy, efficiency,
robustness) of the method.
Project, paper reviews.
c
Students are better prepared
to analyze a problem and
assess the strengths and
weaknesses of different
methods and techniques for
solving it.
Paper reviews, paper
presentations.
CSE Graduate Student Outcomes:
a. an ability to apply engineering and computer science research and theory to advance
the art, science, and practice of the discipline.
b. an ability to design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze, interpret, apply,
and disseminate the data.
c. an understanding of research methodology.
Course Topics:
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Color Vision
Multiple View Geometry
Camera Calibration
3D Reconstruction
Object Recognition
Optical Flow and Motion Analysis
Perceptual Grouping
Background Modeling
Detection and Tracking
Robotic Vision
Gesture and Facial Expression Recognition
Activity Recognition
Course Policies:

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Students are expected to attend, and be on time, for every class. This demonstrates
professionalism and consideration for your fellow students and your instructor.
Students are expected to turn in all assigned materials in a timely manner.
Students are expected to demonstrate professionalism and courtesy by either
silencing or turning off all cell phones and/or other alarm or audible indicator
devices.
The instructor reserves the right to add to, and/or modify any of the above policies
as needed to maintain an appropriate and effective educational atmosphere in the
classroom. In the case that this occurs, all students will be notified in advance of the
implementation of the new and/or modified policy.
UNR Athletics:
 If you are involved with any university-sponsored athletic activities that will have
an impact on your attendance, please provide your instructor with a letter from your
coach and/or the UNR Athletic Department as soon as possible, but no later than the
end of the second week of classes. This should include the official schedule of your
activities which will impact your attendance throughout the semester.
Assignments, Examinations and Grading:
Paper Reviews:
 During each lecture we will discuss a numbers of papers on a specific research topic.
Students must read the papers before class and submit a half-page review for each
paper at the beginning of the class. A review must contain:
o Title and authors of the paper
o A summary that emphasizes the contributions of the paper
o A critique that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the paper
Paper Presentations:
 During the semester, each student is required to present several papers to the rest
of the class. Each presentation should take about 20-25 minutes and must be
prepared as if presented in a formal conference (i.e., slides, projector).
Project:
 Each student must complete a research project on one of the topics covered. Teams
of two students are allowed, if the complexity of the selected topic justifies it. The
project development should adhere to the following timeline:
o Project proposal presentation - outlines the problem to be solved and the
proposed approach
o Project status presentation - describes the current status of the project, what
has been done, what is still to be done
o Project presentation (live demos are highly encouraged)
o Project report
 The project report should include:
o Title and author
o Abstract
o Introduction and motivation
o Problem definition, including project goals, assumptions, constraints, and
evaluation criteria
Review of relevant literature and previous research, and how it relates to the
project
o Details of proposed approach, with sufficient mathematical and algorithmic
detail to allow someone else to duplicate the results
o Results and objective experimental evaluation of the proposed approach
o Discussion and conclusion
o References
There are two targeted goals behind the implementation of a particular approach.
The first goal is to verify that the approach works. Towards this goal, each student is
expected to test his/her implementation using various data. The second goal is to
identify weak points of the approach, that is, to identify under what circumstances
the approach will fail to produce good results. Identifying situations which cause
problems to a particular approach is very important since it allows further
improvements by specifically addressing these cases.
o
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Late Submission Policy:
 No late assignments will be accepted.
Grading Structure:
 The final score will be computed as follows:
Project
40%
Paper presentations
20%
Paper reviews
20%
Attendance and class participation
20%
Letter Grades:
 The letter grade will be computed according to the following table. Some upward
adjustment may occur, but do not count on it.
88-100:
A-, A
75-87:
B-, B, B+
62-74:
C-, C, C+
50-61:
D-, D, D+
< 50:
F
Academic Dishonesty:
Students are encouraged to study together, however each student must individually prepare
his/her solutions. Cheating, plagiarism or otherwise obtaining grades under false pretenses
constitute academic dishonesty according to the code of this university. Academic
dishonesty will not be tolerated and penalties can include canceling a student's enrollment
without a grade, giving an F for the course or for the assignment. For more details, see the
University of Nevada, Reno General Catalog.
Disability Services:
Any student with a disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is
requested to contact the instructor or the Disability Resource Center (Thompson Building,
Suite 101) as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate accommodations.
Academic Success Services:
Your student fees cover usage of the Math Center (784-443 or www.unr.edu/mathcenter),
Tutoring Center (784-6801 or www.unr.edu/tutoring-center), and University Writing Center
(784-6030 or http://www.unr.edu/writing-center). These centers support your classroom
learning; it is your responsibility to take advantage of their services. Keep in mind that
seeking help outside of class is the sign of a responsible and successful student.
Audio and Video Recording:
Surreptitious or covert video-taping of class or unauthorized audio recording of class is
prohibited by law and by Board of Regents policy. This class may be videotaped or audio
recorded only with the written permission of the instructor. In order to accommodate
students with disabilities, some students may have been given permission to record class
lectures and discussions. Therefore, students should understand that their comments during
class may be recorded.