Speaker:

Srinivas Narasimhan

Talk Title:

Computer Vision with Light, Sound, and Heat

Date and Location:

Friday, April 11, 2025

3-4 p.m.

BA 5187 and online. Zoom registration link for virtual attendance.

Reception to follow

There is no registration required to attend this event in person. However, seating is limited, so arriving early is recommended.

Abstract:

In recent years, computer vision has made remarkable strides, yet it remains largely confined to what our eyes can see. In this talk, we step into a world beyond the visible spectrum, where light, sound, and heat converge to unlock new possibilities in computer vision. By harnessing ultrasound to control light, we can image deeper and with higher resolution, overcoming tissue scattering and enable ultra-fast optical scanning without moving parts. By examining the interplay between light and heat transport, we can reconstruct object shapes regardless of their visible reflectances and scene lighting, resolving long-standing ambiguities in physics-based vision. By seeing extremely tiny vibrations, we turn our visual cameras into audio and mechanical sensors. Our research has practical applications across various scientific domains, from detecting cancerous tumors to measuring plant photosynthesis to material defect detection. These research projects are a result of collaborations with my fantastic faculty colleagues, postdocs and students.

Biography:

Srinivasa Narasimhan is the U.A. and Helen Whitaker Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University. He served as Interim Director of the Robotics Institute from Aug 2019 to Dec 2021 leading a department of over a thousand students, staff and faculty. He obtained his PhD from Columbia University in Dec 2003. His group focuses on novel techniques for imaging and illumination to enable applications in vision, graphics, robotics, healthcare, agriculture, oceanography, atmospheric optics, and intelligent transportation. He is the co-inventor of numerous visual lighting, imaging and display systems. His works have received over a dozen Best Paper or Best Demo or Honorable mention awards at major conferences [IV (2021), ICCV (2013), CVPR (2022, 2019, 2015, 2000), ICCP (2020, 2015, 2012), I3D (2013), CVPR/ICCV Workshops (2007, 2009)]. In addition, he has received the Ford URP Award (2013), Okawa Research Grant (2009) and the NSF CAREER Award (2007). He served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Computer Vision and serves frequently as Lead and Senior Area Chair in top computer vision conferences.