Teaching

The course is about bio-inspired signal processing, the human visual system, linear and non-linear systems as well as high-level functions in human visual processing. The course is offered every summer semester.
The goal of this course is to get an overview of the human visual system, to learn classical signal processing and machine vision techniques and to finally relate both fields.

Topics

Visual System

Anatomy and functional organization:

• Eye
• Retina
• LGN
• Visual cortex
• Ventral vs. dorsal/parietal stream ("where vs. what")
• Inferotemporal cortex
• Distributed coding vs. "grandmother neurons"

Linear Systems

Linear Filters

• Convolution
• Low-pass, high-pass, band-pass filter
• Orientation selectivity
• Multi-scale

Linear Orthonormal Transforms

• Fourier transform
• Cosinus transform
• Principal component analysis

Non-Linear Systems

• Polyspectra
• Volterra-Wiener systems

"High-Level Functions"

• Gestalt theory of visual perception / Visual Illusions
• Attention
• Top-down control

Tools

Matlab™/Numpy