CS 348C Course format and requirements

CS 348C - Topics in Computer Graphics
Virtual reality
Stanford University

Marc Levoy and Bill Lorensen
Winter, 1996

Reading list

An online reading list lists the papers we will read during the quarter. I welcome suggested additions to or deletions from this list. Each leaf node heading in the list constitutes one topic. We will cover one topic per class meeting. There are 18 class meetings (not including this week).

For each of the 18 topics, we will assign one student to present the topic. Students taking the course for either 1 or 3 credits must present a topic. Everyone is expected to read all papers and participate in class discussions.

Course project

Students taking the course for 3 credits will also undertake a significant project during the quarter. Acceptable projects include but are not limited to implementing (and improving) an algorithm from a paper, writing an in-depth analysis of an algorithm, or building an experimental system that uses one of the virtual reality devices in our research laboratory. Some suggestions for projects are given below.

Students are encouraged to work in teams of two on these projects. Milestones for the project are:

Written project proposal due (1-2 pages)
February 13
Proposal meetings with us
February 14-16
Progress meetings (we will expect to see progress!)
March 5-8
Public presentation to the class
Monday, March 18
Final writeup due
Wednesday, March 20

Course grades will be based on presentation of papers, participation in class discussions, and (for 3-credit students) the quality of the project.

Equipment available for student projects

...plus a variety of high-performance computing and graphics engines. Press here for a more detailed description of our laboratory infrastructure. We are also looking into purchasing an inexpensive head-mounted display in time for student projects this quarter.

Some project ideas

Over the years, many student projects in CS 348C have become published papers. Maybe your project will become a Siggraph '97 paper or a dissertation!

Assigning students to topics

To get started, all students taking the course for credit must send email to Marc Levoy (levoy@cs) by 5:00pm on Thursday giving the following information:

On Thursday evening, I will analyze these lists and for each of the 18 class meetings (not including this week) assign one student to present the topic. We are willing to double up on one or two classes, allowing us to accommodate up to 20 or so registered students. If I am forced to cull the class, I will use your list of courses taken, so make that list accurate and complete.

In making your choices, you will undoubtedly want to peruse the papers. Many of them are taken from Siggraph proceedings. Almost all are available in the Math/Computer Science library. I also have copies in notebooks in my office which you are free to borrow for short periods of time (i.e. an hour), but they must stay within the graphics wing of the building.

We must have your list of topics by 5:00pm on Thursday!


levoy@cs.stanford.edu