Lecture Winter Term 2017/2018

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I offer the following courses in the upcoming WS 2016/2017, for more details click on “Teaching” or take a look at the HOPS system:

For MI master students: The Kick-off will be on the 13.10.2017, at 10 o’clock, room 3.216.

 

  • Computergrafik und Animation  (mandatory for bachelor MI students, WPF for bachelor students of other computer science study paths)

    • Introduction to computer graphics, especially real-time rendering
    • Starts: 25.10.2017 at 16:00 in room 3.102

  • Bildbasierte Computergrafik  (mandatory for master MI students with Visual Computing study path, WPF for all other master computer science study paths)

    • Introduction to image-based rendering, 3D reconstruction, and image- and video editing
    • Starts: 26.10.2017 at 13:00 in room 3.111

  • Theoretische Informatik 1 (mandatory for bachelor MI and AI students)

    • It seems we can do anything with our computers, but is this really true?
    • Starts: 24.10.2017 at 17:00 in room 0.401/0.402

  • Einführung in die Medieninformatik (mandatory for bachelor MI students)

    • Introductory course for Medieninformatik, learn what your studies will be about
    • Starts: 17.10.2017 at 13:00. Room depends on your group. My group will be in room 3.111

  • MI Project Vision & Concept: 3D Bodyscanner (Master MI)

    • Learn how to create a virtual avatar of yourself
    • Starts: 13.10.2017 during the Kick-Off

New exam regulations (Prüfungsordnung) for the Medieninformatik Master and Bachelor from WiSe 2017/2018 on

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Starting with the upcoming WiSe 2017/2018 we have new exam regulations for the Medieninformatik Master and Bachelor with many exiting changes!

E.g. Students can now choose between different focus areas, e.g., Visual Computing, to get the courses they really want.

For changers:  Many of your old courses can be transferred to the new PO with little hassle. Come and talk to us.

 

The Kickoff-Meeting for the Master will take place on the 13.10.2017 at 10 o’clock in room 3.216 (MI-Studio).

   

Our work on Split-Depth Image Generation and Optimization has been accepted at Pacific Graphics 2017

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Our work “Split-Depth Image Generation and Optimization” has been accepted at Pacific Graphics 2017.

Jingtang Liao, Martin Eisemann, and Elmar Eisemann
“Split-Depth Image Generation and Optimization”
in Proc. Pacific Graphics

Abstract:

Split-depth images use an optical illusion, which can enhance the 3D impression of 2D animation. In split-depth images (also often called split-depth GIFs due to the commonly used file format), static virtual occluders in form of vertical or horizontal bars are added to a video clip, which leads to occlusions that are interpreted by the observer as a depth cue. In this paper, we study different factors that contribute to the illusion and propose a solution to generate split-depth images for a given RGB + depth image sequence. The presented solution builds upon a motion summarization of the object of interest (OOI) through space and time. It allows us to formulate the bar positioning as an energy-minimization problem, which we solve efficiently. We take a variety of important features into account, such as the changes of the 3D effect due to changes in the motion topology, occlusion, the proximity of bars or the OOI, and scene saliency. We conducted a number of psycho-visual experiments to derive an appropriate energy formulation. Our method helps in finding optimal positions for the bars and, thus, improves the 3D perception of the original animation. We demonstrate our approach on a variety of examples. Our study with novice users shows that our approach allows them to quickly create satisfying results even for complex animations.

Lectures Summer Term 2017

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I offer the following courses in the aforementioned semester, for more details click on “Teaching” or take a look at the HOPS system:

  • Computergrafik und Animation 2 (WPF for bachelor students of MI and AI)

    • The course will investigate advanced CG algorithms and data structures
    • Starts: 02.05.2017 at 16:00 in room 2.101

  • Visualistik (mandatory for MMI)

    • Learn why visualizations can be so intriguing or why not and build your own to present your data to others
    • Starts: 02.05.2017 at 17:00 in room 3.217

  • Theoretische Informatik 2 (mandatory for MI and AI)

    • It seems we can do anything with our computers, but is this really true?
    • Starts: 26.04.2017 at 17:00 in room 1.400

  • Guided Project (mandatory for Master Computer Science)

    • Topic gets proposed during the official information event
    • Starts: depending on the registration procedure

  • Master- / Bachelor-Thesis / Praxisprojekt / Projekt / Informatikprojekt

    • Topics can be offered after prior consultation. A list of potential research projects in which you can participate can be found here
    • Starts: on demand

Our State-of-the-art-report on “Perception-driven Accelerated Rendering” has been accepted at Eurographics 2017

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Our State-of-the-art-report on “Perception-driven Accelerated Rendering” has been accepted at Eurographics 2017.

M. Weier, M. Stengel, T. Roth, P. Didyk, E. Eisemann, M. Eisemann, S. Grogorick, A. Hinkenjann, E. Kruijff, M. Magnor, K. Myszkowski, and P. Slusallek
“Perception-driven Accelerated Rendering”
in STAR Eurographics 2017

Abstract: Advances in computer graphics enable us to create digital images of astonishing complexity and realism. However, processing resources are still a limiting factor. Hence, many costly but desirable aspects of realism are often not accounted for, including global illumination, accurate depth of field and motion blur, spectral effects, etc. especially in real-time rendering.
On the other hand, there is a  strong trend towards a larger number of pixels per display  due to larger displays, higher pixel densities or larger fields of view.  Also, more bits per pixel (high dynamic range, wider color gamut/fidelity), increasing refresh rates (better motion depiction), and an increasing number of displayed views per pixel (stereo, multi-view, all the way to holographic or lightfield displays) are observable trends in current display technology.
This development causes significant technical challenges due to aspects such as limited compute power and bandwidth which are yet unsolved. 
Fortunately, the human visual system has certain limitations which suggest that providing the highest possible visual quality is not always necessary. In this report, we present the key research and models that exploit the limitations of perception to tackle visual quality and workload alike. Moreover, we present the open problems and promising future research targeting the question how we can minimize the effort to compute and display only the necessary pixels while still offering full visual experience to a user.

We won the best paper award at VMV 2016

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Our work “An Interactive Information Visualization Approach to Physically-Based Rendering” won the “Best Paper Award” at the Vision, Modeling, and Visualization (VMV) conference 2016 in Bayreuth, Germany.

We presented an information visualization toolkit to detect and overcome common problems and artifacts in physically-based rendering.

Congratulations to Gerard Simons and all co-authors.

Lectures Winter Term 2016/2017

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I offer the following courses in the upcoming WS 2016/2017, for more details click on “Teaching” or take a look at the HOPS system:

  • Computergrafik und Animation  (mandatory for bachelor MI students, WPF for bachelor students of AI)

    • Introduction to computer graphics, especially real-time rendering
    • Starts: 05.10.2016 at 16:00 in room 3.102

  • Theoretische Informatik 1 (mandatory for bachelor MI and AI students)

    • It seems we can do anything with our computers, but is this really true?
    • Starts: 04.10.2016 at 17:00 in room 0.401/0.402

  • Einführung in die Medieninformatik (mandatory for bachelor MI students)

    • Introductory course for Medieninformatik, learn what your studies will be about
    • Starts: 04.10.2016 at 13:00. Room depends on your group. My group will be in room 3.111

  • Guided Project: Projection Mapping Installation (Master AI)

    • Computer graphics touches reality
    • Starts: 13.09.2016

Our work on combining InfoVis and Rendering has been accepted at VMV 2016

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Our work “An Interactive Information Visualization Approach to Physically-Based Rendering” has been accepted at VMV 2016 and will be presented on Wednesday 12th of October.

Gerard Simons, Marco Ament, Sebastian Herholz, Carsten Dachsbacher, Martin Eisemann, and Elmar Eisemann
“An Interactive Information Visualization Approach to Physically-Based Rendering”
in Proc. Vision, Modeling, and Visualization

Abstract:

In this work, we present a novel information visualization tool to gain insight into the light transport in a physically-based rendering setting. The tool consists of a sampling-based data reduction technique, an extended interactive parallel coordinates plot providing an overview of the attributes linked to each light sample, 2D and 3D heat maps to represent different aspects of the rendering process, as well as a three-dimensional view to display and animate the light path transportation throughout the scene. We show several applications including differential light transport visualization for scene analysis, lighting and material optimization, reduction of rendering artifacts, and user-guided importance sampling