Advanced Techniques in
Visual Learning & Recognition

CMSC828I - Fall 2023 · Unive-remove-rsity of Maryland

Overview

A graduate-level course in computer vision, with an emphasis on high-level recognition tasks. We will read an eclectic mix of classic and contemporary papers on a wide-range of topics. The course structure will combine lectures, in-class discussions, assignments, and a course project. The goal of this course is to:

  1. Become knowledgeable about how a particular sub-topic evolved, the state-of-the-art, and the challenges that need to be addressed.
  2. Develop skills to critically read, analyze, and discuss a body of research.
  3. Learn to draw connections between different works and engage in productive discussions.

Prerequisites

While there are no formal prerequisites for this course, familiarity with introductory courses in computer vision (CMSC426 or similar) and machine/deep learning learning (CMSC422 or similar) is assumed. If you have not taken courses covering this material, consult with the instructor. Note that a basic knowledge of linear algebra, probability, and calculus is required.

Logistics

Where & when

CSI 2117
Tuesday, Thursday 11:00am - 12:15pm

Instructor

Abhinav Shrivastava
4238 IRB
abhinav@cs.umd.edu
Office hours: As required & by appointment.

Teaching Assistant

Matthew Gwilliam
mgwillia@umd.edu
Office hours: TBD.

Mara Levy
mlevy@umd.edu
Office hours: TBD.

Saksham Suri
sakshams@umd.edu
Office hours: TBD.

Quick Links

Piazza
ELMS-Canvas
Web Accessibility
CMSC828I Fall 2021
CMSC828I Fall 2020
CMSC828I Fall 2019
CMSC828I Fall 2018

Schedule


Date Topic Readings Slides Notes
I – Background and Foundations
Aug 29
Aug 31
Introduction to the class
slides
Aug 31 Quiz


Sep 5
Sep 7
Introduction to Data slides
Sep 12 Data-driven methods in vision slides
Sep 14
Sep 19 (brief)
ConvNets and Architectures [Note: Self review from slides; provided for reference.]
Important Architectures:
Architectures for Videos:
What goes on inside a CNN? Latest & greatest: Transformers
slides bold = required
II – Core Tasks
Sep 19
Sep 21
Sep 26
Two foundational tasks:
  • Object Detection
  • Image Segmentation
Background - Object Detection:
Background - Segmentation:
slides Assignment 1 Released (Sep 21)
Sep 26
Sep 28
Oct 10
Two foundational tasks:
  • Object Detection
  • Image Segmentation
Single-stage object detection:
Semantic Segmentation:
Object Proposals:
slides Assignment 1 due (Oct 5)
Oct 10
Oct 12
Two foundational tasks:
  • Object Detection
  • Image Segmentation
Multi-stage object detection:
Multi-stage detection & instance segmentation:
Transformers for detection/segmentation:
Architectures:
Analysis and diagnosis:
Training:
An awesome overview of recent detection methods -- MMDetection; arXiv 2019
slides
III – Additional Topics
Introduction to other tasks;
Human Pose Estimation
Background Reading:
Readings:
slides
Action Recognition Background:
Primary Readings:
Additional Readings:
Additional Readings (tasks and architectures):
slides
Context Reasoning Primary Readings:
Background and Additional Readings:
slides
Attributes Background:
slides
All about 3D:
  • 3D Scene Understanding - Primitives and Reasoning
  • Objects + 3D
Background:
Required readings:
Additional and background readings: Great resource for 3D-related papers: 3D Machine Learning
slides
IV – Guest Lectures
Neural Fields
by Shishira Maiya
Suggested readings:
slides
Self-supervised Learning
by Saksham Suri
(proxy for Ishan Misra)
Suggested readings:
slides

Resources

For a comprehensive review of Computer Vision, please refer to "Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications by Richard Szeliski. The book is available for free online or available for purchase.

Tutorials (libraries and computation resources)

Accommodations and Policies

Academic Integrity

Note that academic dishonesty includes not only cheating, fabrication, and plagiarism, but also includes helping other students commit acts of academic dishonesty by allowing them to obtain copies of your work. In short, all submitted work must be your own. Cases of academic dishonesty will be pursued to the fullest extent possible as stipulated by the Office of Student Conduct. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.shc.umd.edu.

Excused Absence and Academic Accommodations

Any student who needs to be excused for an absence from a single lecture, recitation, or lab due to a medically necessitated absence shall:

  1. Make a reasonable attempt to inform the instructor of his/her illness prior to the class.
  2. Upon returning to the class, present their instructor with a self-signed note attesting to the date of their illness. Each note must contain an acknowledgment by the student that the information provided is true and correct. Providing false information to University officials is prohibited under Part 9(i) of the Code of Student Conduct (V-1.00(B) University of Maryland Code of Student Conduct) and may result in disciplinary action.
  3. This self-documentation may not be used for the Major Scheduled Grading Events as defined below.

Any student who needs to be excused for a Major Scheduled Grading Event, must provide written documentation of the illness from the Health Center or from an outside health care provider. This documentation must verify dates of treatment and indicate the time frame that the student was unable to meet academic responsibilities. No diagnostic information shall be given. The Major Scheduled Grading Events for this course include midterm and final exam. For class presentations, the instructor will help the student swap their presentation slot with other students.

It is also the student's responsibility to inform the instructor of any intended absences from exams and class presentations for religious observances in advance. Notice should be provided as soon as possible, but no later than the Monday prior to the the midterm exam, the class presentation date, and the final exam.

Any student eligible for and requesting reasonable academic accommodations due to a disability is requested to provide a letter of accommodation from the Office of Disability Support Services within the first three weeks of the semester.

Other Accommodations and Policies

You can find the university’s course policies here.