Introduction to Computer Vision

Course Overview

Building on the “distant viewing” turn in Digital and Computational Humanities, the course introduces students to the analysis of large image collections through computational methods. It covers the foundations of digital imaging, image processing, machine learning, and computer vision, while situating these techniques within humanities research.

Students learn how visual data can be represented, analysed, and interpreted using contemporary computer vision tools and workflows.

Practical exercises introduce software libraries such as the Distant Viewing Toolkit and enable participants to apply existing methods to their own image datasets.

The course combines theoretical foundations with hands-on experimentation, providing students with the skills needed to adapt computer vision workflows to humanities research questions.

This course was taught at the University of Graz in Summer Semester 2023.