CMSC 791:

Advanced Topics in Computer Science
Scientific, Medical, and Information Visualization

Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department
University of Maryland Baltimore County
Autumn 1996

Time: M, W, 2:30 - 3:45,
Room: ACIV 107

Instructor: Dr. David S. Ebert , 214 ECS

Phone: 455-3541.

Spring '96 Syllabus (for a reference)

Description:

This course will cover advanced topics in computer graphics: scientific visualization, medical visualization, information visualization, and volume rendering techniques. The format for the course will be group discussions of papers and some lectures by the instructor and outside experts in the field. The grading will be based on participation in class and a class project. Class projects may be done individually or in groups. Projects have the potential of leading to work that forms the basis of a Master's project or Ph.D. research topic. A partial list of topics includes the following:

Volume Visualization Techniques
Hybrid Visualization Techniques
Information Visualization Techniques
Some useful Sites:
Medical Visualization Techniques
Sterescopic & VR Techniques for Visualization
Signal Processing & Visualization
Procedural Texturing Techniques

Tentative Schedule

Week 1 : Organization and Introduction to visualization
rendering, data representation, goals
Week 2- 5 : Visualization Techniques
- Week 2: Intro to Volume Rendering Techniques, Iso-surfaces
- Week 3-4: Volume ray-tracing, hardware-based volume rendering & demo, splatting
Week 5-7 : Work in Information Visualization
- Week 5: Classification and characterization,
  perceptual issues,
  visualization of n-dimensional abstract spaces
  PNL Themescapes paper
- Week 6:
  Wavelets for Info Vis,
  Telltale n-gram based system,
  visualization of document similarity
- Week 7:
  Interactive information visualization and demo
Week 8-10 : Late Breaking Work in Visualization
- Week 8:
  Auditory Breadcrumbs & Sonification
- Week 9:
  Progress reports (no class - Vis '96)
- Week 10:
  Late Breaking Hot Topics Papers
Week 11-12: Work in Medical Visualization
Week 11:
3D Virtual Colonoscopy (Hong, Kaufman, et al)
A virtual endoscopy movie from GE
Visualization Videos
Week 12:
Medical Image Processing and Visualization
Jason Xuan, Georgetown University Medical Center and UMBC
Wavelet Compression and Visualization
- Amen Zwa, UMBC
Week 12-13: Student prsentations and Visualization of CFD, FEM, and other scientific methods
Week 13-15: Interactive Visualization techniques

Textbook: None, but the following books may be useful as references.

Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition, Foley, van Dam, Feiner, Hughes, Addison Wesley, 1993.
Texturing and Modeling: A Procedural Approach, Ebert, et. al., AP Professional, 1994.
Radiosity and Realistic Image Synthesis, Cohen and Wallace, AP Professional 1994.
Principles of Digital Image Synthesis, Andrew Glassner, Morgan Kaufman 1994.

Project Schedule The projects in the class will be broken into three stages. Progress reports and demonstrations of the working projects at each stage will be required.The tentative Schedule for the projects will be the following:

Weeks 1-2: Meeting with me to finalize project topic.
Week 3 Assign first project: Volume Ray Tracer
Week 3: Write-up of proposed project due.
Week 6: Demo of first phase of project required.
Week 8: Second project progress report due.
Week 10: Demo of second phase of project required.
Week 12: Second project progress report due.
Week 15: Demonstration of final project.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact David Ebert, ebert@cs.umbc.edu .