Takeo Kanade

DOHA: Takeo Kanade, pioneer in the field of robotics and vision, spoke at the Distinguished Lecture series at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar recently. He is the fourth speaker in lecture series aimed at bringing people from all over the world to Doha so students could meet successful professionals and see how they can take their education and apply it in the workplace.

Kanade, from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh spoke at length about his research Eye Vision, which involved shooting multiple video images from multiple cameras placed at different angles during the Super Bowl XXXV game. Computers combined the video streams from the state-of-the-art cameras, and the resulting images gave viewers the feel that they were flying through the scenes. This technique was used in the major motion picture The Matrix. The technology was proven to be more than just hi-tech entertainment when it was used to decide a crucial play near the end of the game.

He also spoke of his work on the analysis of facial images and video to recognize people and understanding human expressions. He showed dynamic videos of how he conducts his research, develops his projects and brings them to fruition. And also emphasized how much fun he has had over his long and unparalleled career.

He is also the director of Digital Human Research Center in Tokyo, Japan, which he founded in 2001. Kanade has won countless awards in his 30-year career, and has mentored hundreds of Carnegie Mellon students.