Faculty Bookshelf:
Recent books by faculty authors

Computer Vision for Visual Effects
Richard Radke • Cambridge University Press

Modern blockbuster movies seamlessly introduce impossible characters and action into real-world settings using digital visual effects. These effects are made possible by research from the field of computer vision, the study of how to automatically understand images. Computer Vision for Visual Effects will educate students, engineers, and researchers about the fundamental computer vision principles and state-of-the-art algorithms used to create cutting-edge visual effects for movies and television.

Richard Radke, associate professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering, describes classical computer vision algorithms used on a regular basis in Hollywood (such as blue screen matting, structure from motion, optical flow, and feature tracking) and recent developments that form the basis for future effects (such as natural image matting, multi-image compositing, image retargeting, and view synthesis). He also discusses the technologies behind motion capture and three-dimensional data acquisition. More than 200 original images demonstrating principles, algorithms, and results, along with in-depth interviews with Hollywood visual effects artists, tie the mathematical concepts to real-world filmmaking.

Engineering Problem-Solving 101: Time-Tested and Timeless Techniques
Robert Messler • McGraw-Hill Professional

Going beyond “plug-and-chug” solutions, this multidisciplinary guide explains the underlying scientific principles, provides detailed engineering analysis, and lays out versatile problem-solving methodologies.

Written by Robert Messler, professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer with more than 20 years of experience as a practicing engineer and numerous awards for teaching engineering, this straightforward resource fills a niche by identifying and teaching the procedures necessary to address and resolve any problem, regardless of its complexity. Engineering Problem-Solving 101: Time-Tested and Timeless Techniques contains more than 50 systematic approaches spanning all disciplines, logically organized into mathematical, physical/mechanical, visual, and conceptual categories. Strategies are reinforced with practical reference tables, technical illustrations, interesting photographs, and real-world examples.

Alternative Histories: New York Art Spaces 1960 to 2010
Edited by Mary Anne Staniszewski and Lauren Rosati • MIT Press

This book—part exhibition catalogue, part cultural history—chronicles alternative art spaces in New York City since the 1960s. Developed from an exhibition of the same name at Exit Art, Alternative Histories documents more than 130 alternative spaces, groups, and projects, and the significant contributions these organizations have made to the aesthetic and social fabric of New York City. Alternative art spaces offer sites for experimentation for artists to innovate, perform, and exhibit outside the commercial gallery-and-museum circuit. In New York City, the development of alternative spaces was almost synonymous with the rise of the contemporary art scene.

Through interviews, photographs, essays, and archival material, Alternative Histories tells the story of such famous sites and organizations as Judson Memorial Church, Anthology Film Archives, A.I.R. Gallery, El Museo del Barrio, Franklin Furnace, and Eyebeam, as well as many less well-known sites and organizations. Essays by the exhibition curators and scholars, and excerpts of interviews with alternative space founders and staff, provide cultural and historical context. Mary Anne Staniszewski is professor and acting head of the arts department.

Multispectral Satellite Image Understanding: From Land Classification to Building and Road Detection
(Advances in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition)
Cem Ünsalan and Kim Boyer • Springer

This book presents a comprehensive review of image processing methods, for the analysis of land use in residential areas. Combining a theoretical framework with highly practical applications, the book describes a system for the effective detection of single houses and streets in very high resolution. This pioneering work on automated satellite and aerial image-understanding systems will be of interest to researchers in both remote sensing and computer vision, highlighting the benefit of interdisciplinary collaboration between the two communities.

Cem Ünsalan is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. Kim Boyer is professor and dead of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer.