Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2024 - CMPT 983 G200

Special Topics in Artificial Intelligence (3)

Inverse Neural Rendering

Class Number: 4966

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Fri, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

COURSE DETAILS:

In this research-oriented and seminar-based course, we will study and explore the latest research topics in neural 3D scene representations, and their learning from natural images (Neural Radiance Fields, or NeRF; see https://neuralfields.cs.brown.edu, as well as 3D Gaussian Splatting, or 3DGS; see https://repo-sam.inria.fr/fungraph/3d-gaussian-splatting).

Classes will be held in the form of seminars, paper reading, and open discussions. Course material will be extracted from the current literature. We will follow the "role playing paper reading seminars" format (https://colinraffel.com/blog/role-playing-seminar.html).

Tentative topics that will be covered:

  • basics of volume rendering
  • hierarchical representations
  • image based rendering
  • generalization in neural rendering
  • camera optimization (intrinsics / extrinsics)
  • efficient training / efficient rendering
  • controllability / learnable appearance
  • generative modeling in neural fields
  • semantic understanding in neural fields
  • applications (robotics, medicine, …)

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Develop the ability to present technical content effectively
  • Develop the ability to think critically about a research paper (write a high quality review)
  • Develop a good understanding of the research field of differentiable (neural) rendering

Grading

NOTES:

The course does not have a final or a final project; evaluation will be based on:

– ability to understand the paper and present effectively (only for thesis-based graduate students)
– active class participation (participation in roleplay, Q/A, ...)
– quality of reviews written (assessed weekly by TA)

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html