Computer Graphics: How It's Going

Computer Graphics: How It’s Going

Due: Mar 7, 2024

Overview

Most of the graphics class covers “core graphics” topics such as rendering and animation. While still relevant today, the active research in the field is focused on emerging areas that we will not cover in depth. In this group assignment, you will research and brief the class about these areas.

I have identified the following four broad topic areas and randomly assigned you to a group. Group assignments can be found here.

AI-generated/AI-assisted art, such as that created by deep generative neural networks like Stable Diffusion or Midjournal, and other algorithms for automated image synthesis.
Video manipulation and editing algorithms, including deep fakes and neural re-rendering.
The Metaverse, 3D multi-user virtual worlds in general, and other applications of augmented or virtual reality.
Algorithms for democratizing design and manufacturing, including 3D and 4D-printing, knitting and weaving, architecture, fashion (virtual try-on), and related applications.

These topics are intended as a starting point for your group’s discussions. Feel free to interpret these topics broadly, though do try to avoid duplicating topics that are a better fit for one of the other groups.

Group Organization

I leave the management of your group up to you. Since each group has about four students, you will want to parallelize and distribute the work of researching your topic and preparing your written and oral materials. My recommendation is that you schedule a group meeting early to brainstorm and plan how you will complete this project and how to delegate tasks. You might also want to create a Box for storing copies of sources that you’ve found, and a Discord channel or Slack for communicating asynchronously with each other.

Video Selection

By February 29th your team should find and submit a video (from YouTube or other source) that you believe best establishes the background and context necessary for the class to discuss your assignment topic. The video should be roughly 5–15 minutes long. All groups working on the same topic will watch each other’s video choices and then vote on a single video to show to the entire class.

Written Report

Please prepare a written report (as a small group) covering each of the facets of analysis described below. I am imposing a limit of a maximum of one page per facet (so: five pages total for the whole report). The specific questions listed below are only suggestions; you don’t have to answer them all if you have nothing to say. The page limit is a maximum only: you will not be penalized for being concise so long as you thoroughly and thoughtfully cover each facet.

You should include a bibliography, and may also include figures, as extra pages that do not count against the page limit. All sources are permitted (including Wikipedia, Twitter threads, YouTube videos, etc.) but you should take into account the authority and credibility of all sources during your research. I expect that a thorough exploration of your topic area will need to include at least a few academic research papers.

Context: what is the history of these ideas and technologies? What previous work does it build on and what has been the impact and influence of that work? Why is your topic a focus of attention today? Have there been scientific breakthroughs or inventions that made the topic suddenly relevant? Social, economic, or political changes?
State of the Art: what is currently possible and what are people working on? What grand challenges have recently been solved and what grand challenges remain? How are people trying to solve them? Are the main barriers theoretical? Or practical (scaling up proofs of concept; deploying to a large audience; etc)? Or social?
Applications and Positive Impacts: how will this technology benefit society, in the short- and long-term? In what ways will it improve our daily lives? Disrupt existing industries? Enable new products or inventions? What other areas of science and computer science stand to benefit from advances in your topic area?
Negative Impacts: are there dangers or harms associated with the technology? What are the implications of the technology in terms of today’s societal issues, such as climate and the environment; racial, gender, and wealth inequality; and physical and mental health and social wellbeing? How can the technology cause harm, both when intentionally abused, and as a side-effect of intended use? Are there disparities in who will benefit from the technology? Might it perpetuate or deepen existing inequalities? What are the public policy implications of the technology? Are any harms already evident today?
Analysis: Where the above sections report facts, in this section you should speculate freely and offer your opinions. Do you feel like your topic area is overhyped or underhyped? Are important potential impacts and applications flying under the radar? Are potential harms being neglected, and if so, what measures do you recommend for mitigating them? If you had the power to influence the field’s direction (as a government grant administrator, venture capitalist, or big tech CTO, for instance) which aspects of your topic area would you encourage and which would you discourage?

Oral Presentation

You will lead a discussion of your assigned topic in class on March 5th and 7th. Each topic will be allotted half of a class period. All groups assigned the same topic need to collaborate on this presentation. I will randomly choose which topics we will discuss on which day. You should coordinate with the other groups studying your topic to come up with a list of questions or subtopics for the class to discuss or debate.

Collaboration Report

It is fine for different group members to focus on different parts of the assignment (helping write the report vs. preparing the oral presentation, etc.) but I expect all team members to contribute roughly equal effort. As for all other projects in this course, you will need to submit a collaboration report (separate from the group written report) explaining your role on the team and how much you felt you contributed relative to your teammates. (You do not need to evaluate every other teammate’s contributions in detail).

Grading

Your group will be assigned a holistic grade based on your oral and written report. Except as adjusted in response to the information in your collaboration reports, all team members will receive the same grade. I will evaluate your work based on the following rubric:

A: The research delves deeply into the assigned topic area, and covers not only the obvious ongoing research, applications, and implications, but unearths lesser-known projects currently flying under the radar, and draws surprising connections to applications within and without computer science. The written report is polished and professional, and covers each of the five facets described above thoroughly, thoughfully, and with nuance, with well-structured arguments substantiated using facts drawn from the research materials. The oral presentation is organized and effectively communicates the complexities of the assigned topic at a level appropriate for the rest of the class.
B: Although missing the depth or thoroughness of A work described above, the written report and oral presentation are nevertheless compelling explorations of the assigned topic area’s “big picture,” and make it clear that the group has done thorough and thoughful research.
C: Superficial research that does not extend much farther than what one would learn from a single popular science or Wikipedia article. The written report is sloppy, poorly-written, incoherent, or asserts claims unsubstantiated by any sources. The oral presentation is disorganized and confusing, and either lacks any technical depth or hyper-focuses on technical details without communicating the big picture.