Promoter – Ana Maria Silva Rebelo, INESC TEC
Action – VISUM 2021 – 9th Edition of the Vision Understanding & Machine Intelligence Summer School
Description – Vision Understanding & Machine Intelligence (VISUM) Summer School is a non-profit initiative that aims to bring together students, researchers and enthusiasts, both from academia and industry, with an interest in computer vision and artificial intelligence. With almost a decade of history, VISUM has established itself as a national and international reference, attracting, year after year, a growing number of participants, speakers and partners, from different areas and nationalities.
The VISUM Organizing Committee is made up of professors, researchers and doctoral students from the Institute of Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) who carry out fundamental and applied research in computer vision, pattern recognition and computer learning.
VISUM was a natural consequence of the group’s passion for research and scientific dissemination. Since the first edition, VISUM has positioned itself as a summer-school of reference in the field of computer vision, managing, year after year, to increase the number of participants, diversify the range of partners and obtain recognition from its speakers and guests. In addition to offering training (always in tune with the advancement of technology and science), VISUM also stands out for its extra-academic initiatives. All editions have sessions promoted by representatives of the Industry, where participants have the opportunity to participate in debates and expand their network of contacts.
VISUM believes that a good theoretical basis must be complemented with a strong practical component. In this sense, participants are encouraged to form teams and solve a real challenge during the event, and then have the opportunity to present it to the community. As a form of compensation for the dedication of the participants and for the quality of the work carried out, it has been usual to offer prizes to the best teams. In addition, participation in VISUM guarantees its participants to obtain 2 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System).
As an event that takes place annually and in the summer season, VISUM gives its participants the opportunity to get to know Portuguese culture through the promotion of social events, ranging from the promotion of guided tours to tourist attractions in Oporto, to the organization of cultural dinners. Given the pandemic context caused by COVID-19, the VISUM organization had to adapt. The last edition was fully digital and the ninth edition will have the same structure. Even so, it was possible to create a paradigm that reinforced the contact between team and the participants and combined social and cultural sessions (for example, last year, VISUM had the support of a Portuguese musical artist who gave a live concert in the opening session).
More information here.