PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Brian Curless

Also known as B. Curless, Brian L. Curless, Brian Lee Curless

Brian Curless is a computer-vision researcher whose work connects 3D shape capture, computational photography and generative image systems. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, developed parallel-processor DSP algorithms at SRI International, completed range-scanning research at Stanford and joined the University of Washington in 1998. He coauthored Interactive Digital Photomontage in 2004, Photo Wake-Up in 2019 and Generative Powers of Ten in 2024, on seamless photo composition, single-photo animation and scale-consistent zoom video. He became an ACM Fellow in 2024 and, as of October 2026, is a professor at UW's Allen School and co-director of the UW Reality Lab.

Timeline

  1. By 1997

    Electrical engineering and range scanning

    After earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, he works for a year at SRI International on parallel-processor DSP algorithms. He earns an M.S. at Stanford in 1991 and a Ph.D. in 1997, with thesis research on 3D range scanning.

  2. 1998–1999

    Joining UW and scanning Michelangelo

    He joins the University of Washington's Computer Science and Engineering faculty in January 1998. In winter 1999, he scans Michelangelo's sculptures in Florence for the Digital Michelangelo Project, whose volumetric reconstruction method helps create the first detailed 3D computer archive of the sculptures, including David.

  3. 2004–2025

    Interactive digital photomontage

    In 2004, he coauthors Interactive Digital Photomontage, a method for combining images without visible seams. By 2025, the technique appears in Adobe Photoshop CS4 and in Google Maps satellite imagery.

  4. 2019

    Photo Wake-Up from one photo

    In 2019, he coauthors Photo Wake-Up, a method for animating a human from a single photo. It warps a posable body template to fit the person's silhouette, then lets a viewer re-pose the figure in 3D and see it emerge from the photo through augmented reality.

  5. 2024

    Generative Powers of Ten

    In 2024, he coauthors Generative Powers of Ten, a CVPR highlight that uses a text-to-image model to keep content consistent across image scales. Joint multi-scale diffusion sampling lets it create continuous zoom videos from a wide landscape scene to a macro view of an insect.

  6. 2024

    An ACM Fellowship

    He becomes a 2024 ACM Fellow for contributions to 3D shape and appearance capture and reconstruction and to computational photography.

  7. By 2025

    3D reconstruction in products

    By 2025, his volumetric 3D reconstruction research supports feature-film development and is incorporated into Google's Tango augmented-reality platform and Microsoft's HoloLens.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and Reality Lab co-director

    As of October 2026, he is a professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and co-director of the UW Reality Lab. His research spans multi-view stereo, computational photography, range scanning, surface shape and appearance reconstruction, and human shape modeling.

Career

  1. NowUniversity of WashingtonProfessor

Education

  1. 1997Stanford UniversityPh.D.
  2. 1991Stanford UniversityM.S.
  3. University of Texas at AustinBachelor's degree in electrical engineering

From the biography.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Washington. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Washington. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Of 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google, 446 work there nowIncludes University of Washington. Our estimates of where the 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google and Google DeepMind work now: 446 at Google and 452 across 278 other organizations.
  4. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes University of Washington. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Brian Curless yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Brian Curless, Professor - Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. UW professor helping create digital replicas of Michelangelo’s sculptures washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Allen School professors Brian Curless and Jeffrey Heer named ACM Fellows for helping transform how we use computing technologies news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Brian Curless: Publications homes.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Photo Wake-Up: 3D Character Animation From a Single Photo openaccess.thecvf.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Generative Powers of Ten powers-of-10.github.io. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. UW Reality Lab realitylab.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.