Bild-Aspekte (Image Aspects) SS'23
Vorlesung

News:

• Lecture will start on the 12th of April (12.04.2023)
• On this week (18.05.2022) there will be no lecture!
• Please register to attend the lecture using the registration form on our website (https://www.cg.cs.tu-bs.de/teaching/students). This way we can notify you of any current changes. This registration is informal and does not replace the official examination registration at the respective examination office!
  If you encounter any problems, please send an email to ba@cg.cs.tu-bs.de.
  

• Allocation of presentation topics : first come, first serve
  Please send an e-Mail with the top 3 desired presentation topics and 2 preferred presentation dates to: ba@cg.cs.tu-bs.de
• The date to selected the topics will be announced in this webpage (mails received before this date will not be considered!).
  
• Starting of topic and presentation date registration: 05.05 (mails received before this date will not be considered!).
• Deadline for topic and presentation date registration: 30.05
• We will resume the lecture on the 22.06 with the first round of presentations.
• Presentation dates: 22.06, 29.06, 06.07, 13.07, 20.07.
• You can find the ICG slides template here. Its use is not mandatory.
• , 20.07.  (20.7, 27.07 reserved)
  

Description:

What are pictures? How are they created? What distinguishes pictures? How do they impact us? The lecture explores the nature of images from the perspective of mathematics, physics, computer science, psychology, neuroscience, and art.

The course is explicitly aimed at students of ALL disciplines and is also offered as a key qualification in the lecture pool "interdisciplinary qualification" ("überfachliche Qualifikation").

Time and place:

• Every Wednesday from 15:00 to 16:30
• Room: IZ 161
• Lecture period: 12.04.2023 to 22.07.2023
• Start: 12.04.2023

Contents:

• How many pictures are there?
• Which is the oldest picture in the world?
• How do optical illusions work?
• Impossible shapes
• What makes faces so interesting?
• How does make-up work?
• Is attractiveness hereditary?
• Pictures on drugs
• Hidden image content
• Why do we hang impressionist paintings on our walls?
• What's behind modern art?

Formalities:

• Duration: 2 SWS
• Credit Points: 3 (3 LPe, Studienleistung)
• Examination modality: Presentation

In order to obtain the course credit, each participant must present in a 10-15 minute talk one of the scholarly articles that will be listed below under "topics". Please list three topic preferences.

Prerequisites:

• Interest in images, photography, art, vision, and visual perception.

Topics:

To be announced

All links are accessible from within the TU domain and the pdf files are downloadable. Some are protected with the password given in the lecture. If there are any problems please report them to ba@cg.cs.tu-bs.de.

Images and Nature

• S. Nayar et al."Fast Separation of Direct and Global Components of a Scene using High Frequency Illumination", 2006 (Nat1)
  Ingeniously elegant method to record how objects would look without internal scattering.

Images and Numbers

• D. Corney, R. Lotto, "What are Lightness Illusions and why do we see them?", 2007 (N1)
  Neural network that "sees" the same optical illusions as we do.    
  

• E. Watanabe et al., "Illusory Motion Reproduced by Deep Neural Networks Trained for Prediction", 2017 (N2)
  Deep Neural Net that perceives the famous "Rotating Snakes" illusion as we do.              
  

• B. Olshausen and D. Field, "Emergence of simple-cell receptive field properties by learning a sparse code for natural images", 1996 (N3)
  Computer experiment that shows how the functioning of certain neurons in our visual cortex can be explained.

• Wu et al."Eulerian Video Magnification for Revealing Subtle Changes in the World", 2012 (N4)
  Visualization of minimal local color and motion changes in video recordings based on frequency analysis.
  

• E. Reinhard et al., "Second order image statistics in computer graphics", 2004 (N5)
  Elegant application of natural image statistics to upscale pictures.

Images and Vision

• H. Kolb, "How the retina works", 2004 (V1)
  Excellent article about the structure and function of our retina.      
  

• J. Böttger, "Darstellungen von Betrachtungsvorgängen", 2003 (V2)
  Diploma thesis (DE) on the topic of where and for how long our eyes look when we look at an image, including a nice visualization of the determined gaze duration.        

• E. Land, "The Retinex theory of color vision", 1977 (V3)
  Retinex theory: Computer model for modeling human color perception based on psychological experiments. See also:

- J. McCann, "Lessons learned from Mondrians applied to real images and color gamuts", 1999 (V3.1)

- B. Funt et al., "Retinex in MATLAB", 2004 (V3.2)

• S. Magnusson et al., "Filling-in of the foveal blue scotoma", 2001 (V4)
  Why can we see the color blue even though we have no receptors for this color in the central fovea?        
  

• L. Riggs et al., "The Disappearance of Steadily Fixated Visual Test Objects", 1953 (V5)
  Classic experiment that shows that the image on the retina must move constantly, otherwise we would be blind!

• S. Shevell et al., "Color in complex scenes", 2008 (V6)
  Overall view of the mutual influence of colors in our perception.        
  

• P. Bressan, "Explaining lightness illusions", 2001 (V7)
  Representation of various optical illusions that are due to the lightness illusion.

• D.-E. Nilsson and S. Pelger, "A pessimistic estimate of the time required for an eye to evolve", 1994 (V8)
  This paper estimates how long it took evolution to create a proper eye. 
  

• J. Koenderink et al., "Picasso in the mind's eye of the beholder: three-dimensional filliing-in of ambiguous line drawings", 2012 (V9)
  Attempt by a well-known Computer Vision scientist to explain how we perceive 3D shapes in Picasso's drawings.

• F. Cole et al., "Where do people draw lines?", 2008 (V10)
  The authors investigate which lines artists draw to represent 3D objects as pencil drawings.        
  

• T. Judd et al., "Apparent Ridges for Line Drawing", 2007 (V11)
  Algorithm that uses a 3D model to decide which lines are important for a drawing.       
  

• D. Hoffman, "The Construction of Visual Reality", 2011 (V12)
  A neuroscientist's rationale for why we see optical illusions and why they may have been evolutionarily advantageous.        
  

• M. Bach, "Die Hermann-Gitter-Täuschung: Lehrbucherklärung widerlegt", 2008 (V13)
  Interesting experiment on the Hermann grid, which impressively refutes the previous explanation of lateral inhibition alone. (DE) 

• J. Faubert and A. Herbert, "The peripheral drift illusion: A motion illusion in the visual periphery", 1999 (V14)
  Explanation of motion illusions due to gray value gradients, basis of the Rotating Snakes illusion.

• F. Poirier, The Anderson-Winawer illusion: it's not occlusion", 2009 (V15)
  Observations and attempt to explain the lightness illusion. Additional paper on the topic:
  - "Clouds are not normal occluders, and other oddities", 2012 (V15.1)
  

• R. Masland and P. Martin, "The unsolved mystery of vision", 2007 (V16)
  Perceptual aspects that we cannot yet explain.

• D. Simons and R. Rensink, "Change blindness: Past present and future. Trends in Cognitive Sciences", 2005 (V17)
  About what we see but do not perceive.

• R. Conway et al., "Neural Basis for a powerful static motion illusion", 2005 (V18)
  Attempt to explain the Rotating Snakes illusion, see also:
  - A. Kitaoka, "Anomalous motion illusion and stereopsis", 2006 (V18.1)
  

• J. Koenderink et al., "Pointing out of the picture", 2004 (V19)
  Fascinating investigation into the perception of two-dimensional projection of three-dimensional scenes including an explanation of why some eyes in paintings seem to follow us.

• P. Cavanagh et al., "View dependence of 3D recovery from folded pictures and warped 3D faces", 2004 (V20)
  Fun with pictures of faces.     
  

Images and the Mind

• B. Nanay, "Picture perception and the two visual subsystems", 2008 (M1)
  Possible importance of the brain's two image processing pathways for image perception.

• B. Piqueras-Fiszman and C. Spence, "The Influence of the color of the cup on consumers' perception of a hot beverage", 2012 (M2)
  Answer to the question of which cocoa mug tastes best.       
  

• R. Russell, "A sex difference in facial contrast and its exaggeration by cosmetics", 2009 (M3)
  Why and how makeup works.

• J. Coan and J. Gottman, "The Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF)", 2007 (M4)
  System for describing facial expressions for the purpose of emotion analysis.

• M. Jensen, K. Mathewson, "Simultaneous perception of both interpretations of ambiguous figures", 2011 (M5)
  Discovery of how we can make our brain see both motifs at the same time in ambiguous images.        
  

• P. Vuilleumier et al., "Distinct spatial frequency sensitivities for processing faces and emotional expressions", 2003 (M6)
  How images can subconsciously trigger emotions.        
  

• P. Vuilleumier et al., "How brains beware: neural mechanisms of emotional attention", 2005 (M7)
  Influence of the unconscious/emotionally perceived on our conscious perception.        
  

• P. Bressloff, "What Geometric Visual Hallucinations Tell Us about the Visual Cortex", 2002 (M8)
  Paper proposing an explanation for patterns hallucinated under the influence of drugs based on the functioning of the visual cortex.        
  

• J. Pettigrew and S. Miller, "A sticky interhemispheric switch in bipolar disorder?", 1998 (M9)
  Influence of manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder on visual perception.

• K. Koscinski, "Current status and future direction of research on facial attractiveness", 2009 (M10)
  State of the art research on what makes a face attractive, see also:
  - G. Rhodes, "The evolutionary psychology of facial beauty", 2006 (M10.1)        
  

• A. Silva, "Facial attractiveness and fertility in populations with low levels of modern birth control", 2012 (M11)
  Answers to the question of why there are not only beautiful people in the world.

• R. Cornwell and D. Perrett, "Sexy sons and sexy daughters: the influence of parents' facial characteristics on offspring", 2008 (M12)
  Investigating the heritability of visual attractiveness.

• C. Taucher, "Neuopsychologische Einflüsse von Schönheit und Niedlichkeitsfaktoren in der Wahrnehmung von Bildern", 2009 (M13)
  Psychological experiments on what we perceive as aesthetically beautiful (DE).

• F. Strack et al., "Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile", 1988 (M14)
  When our facial muscles are forced to laugh, we judge image content more positively than when we look sad.        
  

• D. Maurer et al., "The shape of boubas: sound-shape correspondences in toddlers and adults", 2006 (M15)
  Investigation of the Bouba/Kiki effect in infants and adults.

• M. Ernest-Jones et al., "Effects of eye images on everyday cooperative behavior: a field experiment", 2010 (M16)
  How we change our behavior when we (subconsciously) feel observed.    

Images and Art

• S. Littler, "A Linear Perspective to Art", 2004 (A1)
  Exciting historical development of central projection in paintings.

• Andrew546, "Creating a 3D effect with image editing software", 2007 (A2)
  Instructions on how to use Photoshop or GIMP to add depth to ordinary images (best presented as a live demo).   
  

• A. Kalaidjian, "Automated landscape painting in the style of Bob Ross", 2009 (A3)
  How to paint (kitschy) landscapes without being able to paint.       
  

• P. Cavanagh, "The artist as neuroscientist", 2005 (A4)
  Fascinating view of fine art by a neuroscientist.           
  

• V. Ramashandran and W. Hirstein, "The science of art: A neurological theory of aesthetic experience", 1999 (A5)
  Neuroscientific considerations and attempts to explain various aspects of art and why humans like art.

• M. Petry, "Sculpture and Touch", 2008 (A6)
  Examination, from an art perspective, of the differences between the senses of touch and sight using sculptures.

• B. Pinna, "The organization of shape and color in vision and art", 2011 (A7)
  Gestalt psychological aspects in art.

• M. Hooser, "The Language of Art: A covnersation between Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso", 2001 (A8)
  Comparison of the styles of Matisse and Picasso from an artistic point of view.

• J. Krois, "What are images and what are they for?"(A9)
  An attempt to answer the question in the title from the point of view of art.

• H. Cohen, "What is an image?"(A10)
  An attempt to answer what an image is from the point of view of an AI scientist. Gives the description of an "art robot".

Further Reading:

• J. Frisby and J. Stone, "Seeing - the computational approach to biological vision", MIT Press, 2010
• E. Elling, "Manipulation und Propaganda", bpb, 2007 (DE)
  
• J. Su, D. V. Vargas and K. Sakurai,"One pixel attack for fooling deep neural networks", 2018
• D. Mewes and Dr. A. Heloir, "The Uncanny Valley", 2009

Agenda: