Syllabus Information |
Fall 2015
Oct 31, 2024 |
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| Special Topics - 91437 - CS 8803 - CA |
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Associated Term: Fall 2015
Levels: Graduate Semester, Undergraduate Semester Georgia Tech-Atlanta * Campus Lecture* Schedule Type Learning Objectives: The combined, CS 4803/8803 CA course in Computational Aesthetics is an inquiry-driven, scientific modeling course structured around conjectures of algebraic models of objective beauty in a variety of application domains: colors, music, decorative patterns, photography, painting, web design, curves and surfaces, camera motions, dance, morphing, and shape deformations. Through a series of mini-projects, students invent a measure of beauty in an application domain, formulate it as a mathematical conjecture, design an algorithm that strives to increase this measure for input artifacts, and implement a demonstration. The deliverables of each mini-project include a precise mathematical formulation of the proposed measure of beauty, an implementation of an algorithm that strives to beautify input artifacts, a demonstration of its results, a very short report, and a video presenting the conjecture, explaining the algorithm, and showing its effects. No formal user studies will be conducted to validate these conjectures. Each mini-project will provide the motivation for learning and applying a variety of concepts, such as logarithmic scales and spirals, regular series of geometric transformations, measures of similarity and of regularity, and continuity measures of shapes or motions. Implementation will require designing algorithms that manipulate graphs or arrays of points, pixels, polygons, or transformations. Although the models of beauty that will be discussed in this course are based on accepted principles of human perception (color and motion perception, Gestalt) and on previously proposed models of beauty (for example defined in terms of complexity and regularity measures), there are no prerequisite of prior expertise or courses in Psychology or Art. However, students must have passed a graphics course or have demonstrated proficiency in programming, geometry, and graphics. The course will host invited lectures by experts in application areas and presentation by teams of students. The objective of the course is not to suggest that art can be mechanized or reduced to a few equations. Quite the contrary: students will have a chance to explore and discuss the nature and importance of beauty, its manifestations in art, the structure of the aesthetic design space, and new possibilities of design choices available to artists and designers. Required Materials: Technical Requirements: The course assumes that students have a prior expertise in graphics, geometry, and programing that is equivalent to one expected from students who obtained an A or B in a Computer Graphics course (such as CS3451 or CS6491). To reduce the workload, Processing source code templates will be provided for the mini-projects. Hence, prior expertise with the Processing environment is desired, although not necessary. View Catalog Entry
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