Course Information
Logistics
- Course Number
- CPSC 533A
- Meeting Times
- Tue & Thu, 14:00–15:30
- Classroom
- TBD
Teaching Team
- Instructor
- Alla Sheffer, Professor
sheffa@cs.ubc.ca - Teaching Assistant
- Suzuran Takikawa
Course Description
This course explores recent advances in geometry processing research with focus on computer graphics and vision applications. Topics span from shape reconstruction from images and video, through neural shape representations, garment modeling, fabrication, sketch-based modeling, geometry editing, and perceptual shape processing. Students will engage in depth with key readings and will gain hands-on experience through projects.
Course Structure
The course is centered around two elements: seminar style lectures and hands-on projects.
Lectures
The course lectures follow a research seminar structure. Each lecture, we'll discuss a recent geometry processing paper. List of papers for discussion is here.
Lecture Format: Role-Playing Seminar
The discussions will use a role-playing format to immerse students in the research lifecycle. During discussion we will have 4 students describe the work from different perspectives. Each of the 4 will have 10–15 minutes to discuss their assigned perspective on the work, followed by a class discussion.
Historian
Will do a deep-dive into relevant prior research.
Presenter
Will present the work and its key ideas.
Positive Reviewer
Will provide a detailed, precise, and overall positive review of the work, highlighting contributions. When relevant include discusion of positive impact since publication.
Critical Reviewer
Will provide a detailed, precise, overall critical review of the work, and recommend improvements. When relevant include discusion of limitations observed since publication.
Project
The hands-on projects are designed for students to apply the knowledge acquired in the course to solving an actual practical problem and to do a deep independent dive into an aspect of geometry processing that interests them the most. Students will select a topic early in the term and present periodic updates on project progress throughout the term, culminating in a final presentation and software package which others can evaluate/experiment with.
Project Formats: Students will be able to choose one of the following project formats.
- Option 1: Implement a paper from the course (if code is not available) or refine a paper (e.g., by exploring new applications or extensions).
- Option 2: Incorporate advanced geometry processing method into your own research.
Project group size: ~2 people
Prerequisites & Learning Objectives
Audience: Advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in computer science and applied sciences.
By the end of the course, students will:
- Become familiar with state of the art and foundational methods for geometry processing.
- Critically engage with recent research publications and evaluate methods across different dimensions, separating hype from fundamental contributions.
- Design and manage open-ended research projects, from proposal to presentation, while demonstrating collaboration, planning, and iteration.
- Communicate complex technical ideas through oral presentations, written reports, and reproducible experiments.
Course Schedule: A Weekly Breakdown
The schedule is maintained in Google Sheets and updates automatically below.
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Grading Breakdown
Paper Presentations — 45%
- Each student is expected to play each role at least once (number of times will depend on class enrolment).
- Grade will partly depend on (anonymous) feedback from other students.
Final Project — 45%
- Project proposal outlining the project goals, outcomes, and milestones — 5%
- Mid-term milestone check-in I — 8%
- Mid-term milestone check-in II — 8%
- Completed project — 24%
- Grade will partly depend on (anonymous) cross-testing feedback from other students.
Participation — 10%
Students are expected to:
- Submit written feedback for all presenters after each paper presentation. Feedback should include a very short summary of the presentation and a constructive critique of the presentation.
- Provide written feedback on project proposals, milestone check-ins, and final projects. Students will have the opportunity to test-run each others' projects and will be expected to incorporate this experience into their feedback.
- Participate in classroom discussions, provide oral feedback on presented papers, project proposals & check-ins.
Resources & Links
- Paper list: Discussion paper spreadsheet
- Piazza: Join the course Piazza