Object and Face Recognition OpenCourseWare: MIT's Free Undergraduate Course on Object Recognition

Published Feb 09, 2009

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Explore how animals, people and robots perceive patterns, objects and faces in 'Object and Face Recognition,' a free OpenCourseWare from the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This undergraduate level course for students of psychology, neuroscience and engineering introduces fundamental concepts and discusses applications to humans and advanced technology.

Object and Face Recognition: Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Undergraduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
Yes Yes No

Object and Face Recognition: Course Description

'Object and Face Recognition' provides an outline of the important concepts of pattern recognition, leading to object and facial identification. Study questions summarize basic topics, beginning with pattern recognition in invertebrates and humans, leading to applications in robotics. Advanced study questions relate to competing theories and models of perception and identification. The OpenCourseWare raises the question of whether facial perception is a unique case and uses different neural processing from other forms of object recognition. Notes from a guest lecture by a police sketch artist explore real-world applications of facial recognition and some of the practical problems of human perception. The OpenCourseWare version of 'Object and Face Recognition' is based on a lecture course taught by MIT associate professor Pawan Sinha, as part of the bachelor's degree program in brain and cognitive science. Materials for 'Object and Face Recognition' are available in Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

The OpenCourseWare includes study questions, lecture notes and assignment guidelines. If you are interested in 'Object and Face Recognition, visit the facial identification course page.

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