Comp 600.359:
Projects in Computer Graphics and Multimedia
Video Triptik
Course Syllabus
Professor
|
Jonathan Cohen
cohencs.jhu.edu
Office Hours in NEB 218-B
by appointment
|
Overview
Projects in Computer Graphics and Multimedia is a project rather than a
lecture-oriented course. Students collaboratively plan and implement a
large-scale project over the span of the entire semester. From initial
brainstorming to investigation of existing systems to the development of
a full-scale system, students shape a project into something that may be
useful to either the research community or the general public. As part
of this project, students read materials about relevant subjects and
present their findings to the rest of the class. Students learn to work
in small groups on project components and to maintain interfaces between
the components to create the full project. Course meetings involve
brainstorming sessions, student presentations of material, progress
reports, and demos with collaborative feedback.
This semester's proposed project area is called Video Triptik. It is
a first-person navigation system that uses video to guide someone from
one place to another. Think "Video MapQuest". The project involves
building a video database by walking around campus or driving around
Baltimore using GPS-guided positional measurements. Using this database,
the project system takes in user queries and extracts customized video
experiences to guide the user from one place to another. Possible
application areas include a tour of the Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus
and an automobile navigation system. The final project will incorporate
a web-based system for database queries and updates.
Students should have a background in computer science or in film. CS
students must have completed Data Structures (600.226) and at least one
300-level course with a semester programming project (or comparable
experience). Film students should provide an appropriate faculty
reference to the instructor. Both CS and film students must get approval
of the instructor for registration.
Some Relevant Topics
- Image/video compression
- Global positioning system (GPS)
- Geometric proximity queries and path planning
- Cartography
- Image registration and manipulation
- Software development tools
Reading
Topics for reading will be determined throughout the semester. There is
no required course textbook.
Grading
Final course grades will be determined according to the following
criteria:
- class participation (including contribution to brainstorming
sessions and topical presentations)
- project contribution (including written progress reports)
- initiative / enthusiasm
These criteria will be evaluated both by the professor and by the
students. Students will receive feedback midway through the semester so
they can try to improve any problem areas.
As part of class participation, attendance is expected. If you are
going to miss class, I want to know about it as well as a reason. Plan
to miss no more than maybe two classes during the semester. Remember,
this class is not about lectures and exams, but group discussions and
collaborations. Thus, attendance is crucial.
Grades are not assigned according to a curve, so it is possible for
all students to take an active role throughout the semester and thus
achieve high grades.
Honor Code
Due to the collaborative nature of this course, plagiarism among
students is not expected to be a big concern. However, it is always
important to give proper credit for all work. In this course, that
includes giving honest information on self- and peer-evaluations as well
as giving proper credit for all code and presentation materials.
On-line Course Information
This syllabus is available on the world-wide web at:
http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~cohen/CS359/syllabus.html
From this site there will be updated links to all sorts of relevant
course information. There will likely be web pages developed by the
students available linked from this site as well.
January 28, 2002