Short Programs
Advances in Imaging
Date: July 29-30, 2013 | Tuition: $1,600 | Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 1.2
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Course Summary | Key Takeaways | Who Should Attend | Program Outline | Schedule | Lecturers | Location
Course Summary
The course provides an overview of computational imaging techniques, including novel imaging platforms to sample light in radically new ways and emerging topics in image analysis and exploitation. New cameras that can sample the high dynamic range (HDR), light field, or wide spectrum are emerging. In addition, ultra-fast optics for femto-photography and diffraction-beating technologies for microscopy are bringing unprecedented resolution in time and space.
In this course, we will survey the landscape of imaging hardware, optics, sensors, and computational techniques. Participants will learn about high-end imaging devices and observe them in up-close demonstrations. We will explore new emerging solutions that are opening up new research and commercial opportunities in immediate as well as future applications.
Key topics include light fields, high dynamic range imaging, signal processing, applied optics, Fourier optics, ultrafast and multi-spectral imaging, compressive sensing, computer graphics and computer vision, and social photo collections.
Fundamentals: Core concepts, understandings, and tools (30%)
Latest Developments: Recent advances and future trends (40%)
Industry Applications: Linking theory and real-world (30%)
Lecture: Delivery of material in a lecture format (70%)
Discussion or Groupwork: Participatory learning (15%)
Labs: Demonstrations, experiments, simulations (15%)
Introductory: Appropriate for a general audience (50%)
Specialized: Assumes experience in practice area or field (30%)
Advanced: In-depth explorations at the graduate level (20%)
Key Takeaways
The participants of this course will:
- Understand the basics of a variety of computational imaging techniques, both those used in industry today and cutting edge techniques from the laboratory.
- Observe demonstrations of various imaging hardware.
- Learn new methods for overcoming the traditional constraints in imaging.
- Explore new emerging solutions that are opening up new research and commercial opportunities in current and future applications.
- Participate in small group discussions about the future of imaging, including future products, services, and societal impact.
Who Should Attend
The course is suitable for decision makers and planners for the next generation of imaging solutions, engineers and designers of imaging systems, and anyone interested in reviewing existing and emerging solutions in optics, sensors, and image analysis. Application areas include consumer photography (including mobile phones), industrial machine vision, and scientific and medical imaging.
Background: There are no pre-requisites but a general knowledge of technologies that involve image processing, optics, and sensors is a plus.
Program Outline
Day 1 am: Beyond a 2D Image
A computational camera attempts to digitally capture the essence of visual information by exploiting the synergistic combination of task-specific optics, illumination, sensors, and processing. Demonstrations and discussions will center on thermal cameras, multi-spectral cameras, high-speed cameras, and 3D range-sensing cameras and camera arrays. We will address opportunities in scientific and medical imaging, mobile-phone based photography, cameras for human-computer interaction (HCI), and sensors mimicking animal eyes.
Day 1 pm: Rethinking Cameras
This session covers the complete camera pipeline. The instructor will build several physical imaging prototypes and help participants understand how each stage of the imaging process can be manipulated.
We will explore modern methods for capturing and sharing visual information. If novel cameras can be designed to sample light in radically new ways, then rich and useful forms of visual information may be recorded—beyond those present in traditional photographs. Furthermore, if the computational process can be made aware of these novel imaging models, then the scene can be analyzed in higher dimensions (beyond 2D and 3D) and novel aesthetic renderings of the visual information can be synthesized.
Day 2 am: Multidisciplinary Influence and Impact
This field—at the intersection of signal processing, applied optics, computer graphics and vision, electronics, art, and online sharing through social networks—is emerging as truly multidisciplinary. It cannot be studied in isolation. This session will examine several multidisciplinary impacts, such as whether innovative camera-like sensors can overcome the tough problems in scene understanding and generate insightful awareness, creating actionable information. In addition, we will see how new algorithms are emerging to exploit unusual optics, programmable wavelength control, and femtosecond-accurate photon counting to decompose the sensed values into perceptually critical elements.
Day 2 pm: The Future of Imaging and a Roadmap for Imaging Applications
Our final session explores the impact of new imaging technology and applications on society—how imaging will change our world in the next five years. We will have a series of short presentations followed by discussions as a class or in small groups.
With more than a billion people now using networked mobile cameras, we are seeing a rapid evolution in activities based on visual exchange. The capture and analysis of visual information plays an important role in photography, art, medical imaging, tele-presence, worker safety, scene understanding, and robotics. But current computational approaches analyze images from cameras with limited abilities. The goal of the Camera Culture Group is to go beyond post-capture software methods and exploit unusual optics, modern sensors, programmable illumination, and bio-inspired processing to decompose sensed values into perceptually critical elements. A significant enhancement in the next billion cameras to support scene analysis and mechanisms for superior metadata tagging for effective sharing will bring about a revolution in visual communication. Discussion will include strategies the Camera Culture Group has developed and how course participants can affect the future of imaging.
Guided by the questions that follow, we will end the course by addressing the future of imaging. What will a camera/display look like in coming years? How will the next billion cameras change the social culture? How can we augment the camera to support best “image search?” How will portable health diagnostics impact healthcare? Will we live mostly in virtual/augmented reality? How will ultra-high-speed/resolution imaging change us? How can we improve “trust” in imaging? Can we print anything? What are the opportunities in pervasive recording? What will be in Photoshop in coming years? What is the future of movie-making, news reporting, or sports viewing? These questions will shape the future of imaging products and services.
Course schedule and registration times
Registration is on Monday morning from 8:45 – 9:15 am.
Class runs 9:30 am - 5:00 pm both days.
Tentative schedule:
- Morning lecture and demonstrations, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
- Afternoon lectures and demonstrations or discussion, 3:00 5:00 pm
There will be a reception and dinner for faculty and participants on Monday evening.
About The Lecturers
Ramesh Raskar
Ramesh Raskar is an Associate Professor at MIT Media Lab and heads the
Labs Camera Culture research group. He joined MIT from Mitsubishi
Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) in 2008.
His research interests span the fields of computational light transport, computational photography, inverse problems in imaging, and human-computer interaction. Recent projects and inventions include transient imaging to look around a corner (CORNAR), low-cost eye care devices (NETRA, CATRA), a next generation CAT-Scan machine, imperceptible markers for motion capture (Prakash), long distance barcodes (Bokode), touch+hover 3D interaction displays (BiDi screen), new theoretical models to augment light fields (ALF) to represent wave phenomena and algebraic rank constraints for 3D displays (HR3D).
He is a recipient of the TR100 award from Technology Review (2004), Global Indus Technovator Award to recognize the top 20 Indian technology innovators worldwide (2003), Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2009), and DARPA Young Faculty award (2010). Other awards include Marr Prize honorable mention (2009), LAUNCH Health Innovation Award (2010), Vodafone Wireless Innovation Award (first place, 2011), and Edison Award (2012). He holds over 40 US patents and has received four Mitsubishi Electric Invention Awards. He is currently co-authoring a book on Computational Photography.
Location
This course takes place on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We can also offer this course for groups of employees at your location. Please contact the Short Programs office for further details.
