OPTICS 448, CVS/BCS 526
Instructor: David Williams (#5-8672)
david@cvs.rochester.edu
Thursdays, 9am-12 noon
Room 269, Meliora Hall
The course will begin by describing the optical and neural factors that limit our capacity to resolve patterns in space, time, and wavelength, with an emphasis on the information capacity of the eye's optics and the retina. We will compare the human eye with eyes that evolved to operate in different environments, such as the acute eyes of predatory birds and the compound eyes of insects. A session of radiometry, photometry, and colorimetry will provide students with the skills to calibrate visual displays both in physically and visually meaningful units. The second half of the course will focus on new developments in vision correction and retinal imaging, especially in the area of methods to control the eye’s aberrations.
Each session will begin with a lecture either by me or a guest instructor who is an expert on that topic. The lecture will be followed by a discussion involving all the course participants. Students will be expected to serve as coordinator for one or perhaps two sessions. The coordinator will choose readings on the topic taken from the literature in consultation with the session instructor, distributing copies one week in advance of the session. Corrdinators will also lead the discussion of the readings. Students will be evaluated on class participation and with a take home exam given at the end of the semester.
| Week | Topic | Instructor | Coordinator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/16 | Introduction to the visual system | David Williams | |
| 1/24 | Visual performance assessment optical limits on vision |
David Williams | Jennifer Steinberg |
| 1/30 | Neural limits on visual performance | David Williams | Weizhen Yan |
| 2/6 | Photoreceptor optics diversity of animal eyes |
David Williams | Lance Calvert |
| 2/13* | Color vision and trichromacy | Joe Carroll* | Lance Calvert/Dan Boland |
| 2/20 | Radiometry, photometry, and colorimetry Display calibration |
Walt Makous* Ben Singer |
Jennifer Steinberg |
| 2/27 | Emmetropization and accommodation | Li Chen | Andrea Lathrop |
| 3/6 | Aberrations of the eye, measurement Aberrations of the eye, structure |
GY Yoon* Jason Porter* |
Alexis Spilman |
| 3/13 | Spring Break | ||
| 3/20 | Aberrations and visual performance | David Williams | |
| 3/27 | Adaptive optics | Nathan Doble | Aaron Reichman/Anant Mathur |
| 4/3* | Refractive surgery | Scott MacRae* | John McMurdy/Nien-An Chang |
| 4/10 | Interaction of light and the retina Imaging retinal disease |
Stacey Choi Mina Chung* |
Greg Schmidt/Meng Lu |
| 4/17* | Scanning laser ophthalmoscopy Optical coherence tomography |
Fred Reinholz Remy Tumbar* |
Joyce Huang/Yujun Deng |
| 4/24 | Contact lenses, IOLs, and spectacles | Ian Cox | Lana Nagy |
| 5/1 | Take Home Exam Due |
*Dates when I will be out of town.