Editing VR Photos and Videos

The University of Bath is inviting applications for the following PhD project supervised by Dr Christian Richardt in the Department of Computer Science.

Virtual reality photography and video is a rapidly evolving field within visual computing (see Richardt et al., 2019, 2020). Current techniques mostly focus on capturing and reproducing the visual appearance of scenes realistically. Like the first photos and videos captured by mankind, the VR photos and VR videos captured today cannot be edited. However, editing photos and videos is fairly common and the basis of many applications in the media and creative industries.

The goal of this project is to bring the power of image and video editing to VR photos and VR video. To do this, the project aims to develop new techniques for editing captured VR photos and VR video in a way that is consistent between views and over time. This can, for example, comprise selecting, removing or inserting objects such as people, editing their appearance, size or pose, matching their appearance to the scene, replacing the sky, relighting the scene, and so on. The methodology for each task will depend on the specific scene representation that is used. The project will therefore start with identifying suitable scene representations for various editing tasks. Please see Section 4, ‘Tools and Workflow’ in Richardt et al. 2020 for more detail.

The project will be supervised by Dr Christian Richardt at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bath. The University is located in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath, providing a vibrant research environment in one of the most beautiful areas in the UK.

Please see our website for more general information on studying for a PhD in Computer Science at Bath.

Candidate requirements:

Applicants should hold, or expect to receive, a First Class or good Upper Second Class Honours degree (or the equivalent) in a relevant subject or a master’s level qualification in visual computing, computer science or a related discipline. A strong mathematical background and strong previous programming experience, preferably in C++ and/or Python, is required. Candidates must have a strong interest in visual computing, and previous experience in computer vision, computer graphics, deep learning and image processing is highly desirable. 

Non-UK applicants will also be required to have met the English language entry requirements of the University of Bath.

Enquiries and applications:

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Dr Christian Richardt on email address c.richardt@bath.ac.uk.

Formal applications should be made via the University of Bath’s online application form for a PhD in Computer Science (full-time).

More information about applying for a PhD at Bath may be found on our website.

Anticipated start date: 4 October 2021.