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Profile:Takeo Kanade

Takeo Kanade

Takeo Kanade

Invited Distinguished Professor

Research Fields

Computer Vision, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Multimedia

Research Overview

Since early 70's, Kanade has performed a series of pioneering research in computer vision. The feature of his accomplishments is that they are fundamental in nature and have practical impacts. To illustrate a few, his neural network-based face detection technique raised the detection rate to an unprecedented level and thus led to today's common use of face detection in smart phone cameras; his optical-flow algorithm for estimating the direction and speed of moving patterns is now the basis of almost all the video processing including motion video coding; and his factorization algorithm for the so-called structure-from-motion problem was one of the earliest algorithms that demonstrated a successful reconstruction of three-dimensional shape from image sequence, which now is a powerful and common procedure for scene modeling by video.

 

Kanade launched an autonomous vehicle project in 1985, and formed the early foundation for the recent emergence of autonomous driving technologies. The team developed one of the first artificial intelligence systems capable of sensing freeway lanes, executing accurate lane changes, recognizing and avoiding obstacles, and detecting other vehicles in real time based on data from vehicle-mounted range sensors and cameras. In 1995, he carried out a demonstration called No Hands Across America, in which the NAVLAB 5 vehicle drove from coast to coast, 98.2% under auto driving.

Biography

1974 Ph.D., Kyoto University
1974-1976 Research Assistant, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
1976-1980 Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University
1980-1982 Senior Research Scientist, The Robotics Institute and Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
1982-1985 Associate professor, The Robotics Institute and Computer Science Department, CMU
1985-1994 Professor, The Robotics Institute and Computer Science Department, CMU
1992-2001 Director, The Robotics Institute, CMU
1993-1998 U.A. and Helen Whitaker Chaired Professor, CMU
1998- U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor, CMU
2004-2010 Director, Digital Human Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
2006-2012 Director, Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center, CMU
2015- Honorary AIST Fellow
2016-2021 Senior advisor, Center for Advanced Integrated Intelligence Research, RIKEN
2017- Invited Distinguished Professor, Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS)

Honors

Joseph F. Engelberger Award (1995), Foreign Member of US National Academy of Engineering (1997), C&C Prize (2000), Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004), Azriel Rosenfeld Lifetime Achievement Award, IEEE Computer Society (2007), Robot & Automation Pioneer Award, IEEE (2007), Okawa Prize (2007), Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science, The Franklin Institute (2008), ACM-AAAI Allen Newell Award (2010), Tateishi Prize, Grand Award (2010), Kyoto Prize (2016), IEEE Founders Medal (2017), Person of Cultural Merit (2019), Global IT Award, State Award of Armenia (2019), Member of the Japan Academy (2020), Kyoto Prefecture Culture Prize for Outstanding Contribution (2022)