About Me
I am a researcher at pixiv. I do research on the application of AI to computer graphics.
I earned my Ph.D. in Computer Science in May 2017 from Cornell University where I was privileged to be advised by Kavita Bala and Steve Marschner. I did research on rendering algorithms and appearance acquisition/modeling, specializing in problems related to fibrous materials such as human hair and cloth.
I used to work at Google Japan as a software engineer where I developed and maintained a few backends for Google Maps.
Before grad school, I lectured at Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University. I finished my undergrad at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and also got a master's degree there.Apart from my specialty in computer graphics, I'm broadly interested in computer vision, machine learning, computational social science, algorithms, and mathematics.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Fast Rendering of Fabric Micro-Appearance Models Under Directional and Spherical Gaussian Lights
SIGGRAPH Asia 2017
Links: [PDF] [ACM Digital Library]
Azimuthal Scattering from Elliptical Hair Fibers
ACM Transaction of Graphics, Vol. 36, Issue 2, April 2017
Links: [PDF] [ACM Digital Library]
Pose Estimation of Anime/Manga Characters: A Case for Synthetic Data
MANPU2016
Links: [PDF] [Drawings Dataset] [ACM Digital Library]
(The synthetic dataset is 80GB in size, and I'm sorry that I cannot distribute it.)
Matching Real Fabrics with Micro-Appearance Models
ACM Transaction of Graphics, Vol. 35, Issue 1, December 2015
Links: [PDF] [Project] [ACM Digital Library]
Bidirectional Lightcuts
SIGGRAPH 2012
Links: [PDF] [Project] [ACM Digital Library]
Pixelcuts: Scalable Approximate Illumination from Many Point Lights
Chiang Mai Journal of Science, Vol.38 (Special Issue 2011)
Links: [PDF]
Minimum Converging Precision of the QR-factorization Algorithm for Real Polynomial GCD
ISSAC 2007
Links: [PS] [PDF] [ACM Digital Library]
Non-Peer-Reviewed Articles
Talking Head Anime from a Single Image 2: More Expressive
Links: [HTML] [Demo Code]
Press: [Gigazine]
การศึกษาเครือข่ายสังคมของนักวิทยาการคอมพิวเตอร์
มาราธอน: อินเทอร์เน็ต การเมือง วัฒนธรรม – ฉบับ “ออกตัว”, นน. 79–99, 2012
Links: [PDF]
Factoring the Coxeter Element of the Hyperoctahedral Group
MIT Undergraduate Journal of Mathematics, v.7, pp. 59-80, 2005.
Theses
Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 2017.
Links: [PDF] [eCommons]
Education
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
- Ph.D. in Computer Science, May 2017
- Advisors: Kavita Bala and Steve Marschner
- M.S. in Computer Science, February 2016
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, June 2007
- Advisors: Alan Edelman
- S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering, June 2006
- S.B. in Mathematics, June 2006
Experience
pixiv, Tokyo, Japan
January 2023 - Present
Conduct research on the application of AI on computer graphics.
Google, Tokyo, Japan
July 2017 - December 2022
I work on Google Maps.
- Developed a feature that allows Android Maps users to save drafts of place reviews.
- Assisted on a big database migration.
- Developed and productionized a backend service for serving place reviews and similar contents.
Deparment of Computer Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
August 2011 - May 2017
Conducted research on computer graphics and computer vision. Research topics include:
- Scalable physically-based rendering algorithms.
- Physically-based appearance modeling of hair and textile fibers.
- Use of synthetic data in 2D articulated human pose estimation.
Helped teach the following courses on computer graphics:
- CS 4620 Introduction to Computer Graphics, Spring 2017
- CS 5625 Interactive Computer Graphics, Spring 2016
- CS 6630 Realistic Image Synthesis, Fall 2015
- CS 5625 Interactive Computer Graphics, Spring 2015
- CS 4620 Introduction to Computer Graphics, Fall 2012
- CS 4620 Introduction to Computer Graphics, Fall 2011 (Outstanding TA Award)
National Institute of Informatics, Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
June 2016 - September 2016
Worked with Prof. Imari Sato on a project to develop a pipeline for acquiring appearance properties of Nishijin-Ori fabric.
Deparment of Computer Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
October 2007 - August 2011
Conducted research on computer graphics and taught the following courses on programming, algorithms, and computer graphics:
- 418115 Structured Programming
- 418341 Computer Graphics Working Environment
- 418342 Web Application Programming
- 418383 Game Programming
- 418512 Computer Programming Languages
- 418531 Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis
- 418536 Advanced Operating System Administration
Thailand Olympiad in Informatics, Bangkok, Thailand
May 2007 - August 2011
- Taught discrete mathematics, data structures, algorithms, and problem solving techniques to participating middle and high school students.
- Prepared students for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) competition.
- Served as a Thai delegate to IOI 2009, 2010, and 2011.
Square-Enix, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
February 2007 - April 2007
Developed a real-time ray tracer for multicore computers.
NTT Communication Science Laboratory, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan
July 2006 - August 2006
Conducted research on performance and stability of algorithms for computing polynomial greatest common divisor.
NTT Communication Science Laboratory, Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan
June 2005 - August 2005
Conducted research on approximate computation in an algorithm for integrating rational functions.
Department of Mathematics, Massachusets Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
July 2004
Conducted research on enumerative combinatorics of generalized permutation group.
Miscellaneous
My Erdős number is at most 4. (Khungurn - Saranurak - Nanongkai - Tetali - Erdős)
I have studied Japanese for 8 years: 3 years in college, 3.5 more years here at Cornell, and 1.5 years after that and counting. I can hold conversations, explain rather complicated concepts, and write essays. As for formal qualifications, I passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test at the N1 level in December 2017 and the Level 2 (２級) of Kanji Proficiency Test in February 2019.
I'm deeply interested in Japanese pop culture such as anime, manga, and video games. (Yes, these are what I have been studying Japanese for!) When possible, I blend these interests with my academic interests. That is why I studied computer graphics for my Ph.D. and why I did a machine learning project on anime/manga images.