PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Hiroyuki Ukida

Also known as 浮田 浩行

Hiroyuki Ukida is a computer vision researcher at Tokushima University whose work recovers 3D shape from images, steers drones by camera, and applies deep learning to Japanese puppet theater. In 1995 he won the Marr Prize at the International Conference on Computer Vision, with Toshikazu Wada and Takashi Matsuyama, for a paper on reconstructing an unfolded book's shape from a scanner image. He joined Tokushima University as an assistant in 1995, earned a Kyoto University doctorate in informatics in 2003, and became a lecturer in 2004. His papers in 2016 and 2021 steered drones with LED panels and QR codes, and from 2018 to 2021 he recovered the shape of joruri puppet heads from CT images. In 2025 he joined the team that announced an AI puppet theater robot using deep learning, and he is an associate professor at Tokushima University.

Now at
Tokushima University
Born
1969

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1992–2003

    Degrees from Okayama and Kyoto

    He graduates from the Department of Information Engineering at Okayama University in 1992 and completes its Graduate School of Engineering master's course in information engineering in 1994. In March 2003, he receives a doctorate in informatics from Kyoto University's Graduate School of Informatics, awarded through the dissertation route.

  2. 1995

    The Marr Prize at ICCV

    In 1995, he wins the Marr Prize at the Fifth International Conference on Computer Vision, with Toshikazu Wada and Takashi Matsuyama. Their paper covers 3D shape reconstruction of an unfolded book surface from a scanner image, using shape from shading with interreflections under a proximal light source.

  3. 1995–2003

    Assistant at Tokushima University

    He joins the Faculty of Engineering at Tokushima University as an assistant in October 1995. From July 2000 he also gives technical guidance to Ricoh alongside his university post, and a Grant-in-Aid project he leads from 2001 to 2002 develops a stereo-type image scanner for modeling 3D objects.

  4. 2004–2013

    Lecturer at Tokushima University

    He becomes a lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering at Tokushima University in April 2004. From 2011 to 2013, he leads a Grant-in-Aid project to develop an object information measurement system that presents the measurement location.

  5. 2016–2021

    UAVs guided by LED panels

    In 2016, he and Masafumi Miwa publish a UAV flight control method in which an on-board camera finds LED panels and tells apart the command patterns they display. In 2021, he publishes an indoor navigation system that uses LED panels and QR codes as markers and tests it on an actual UAV.

  6. 2018–2021

    CT images of puppet heads

    From 2018 to 2021, he is a co-investigator in Atsuya Yoshida's project on 3D archives of joruri puppets. The team develops a method to recover the shape of a puppet's head and its inner mechanism parts from CT images, and shows that the actual parts can be extracted.

  7. 2023–2025

    Awa puppets and an AI robot

    From 2023 to 2025, he is principal investigator of a Grant-in-Aid project on digital archiving to preserve Awa ningyo joruri for the future. In 2025, he is among the researchers who announce an AI puppet theater robot that uses deep learning to acquire emotional expression through puppet theater movements.

  8. As of October 2026

    Associate professor at Tokushima University

    He is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Technology, Industrial and Social Sciences at Tokushima University. The university's directory also lists him in a research cluster on AI digital archiving of artisans' techniques.

Career

  1. Since 1995Tokushima UniversityAssistant, Lecturer

Education

  1. 2003Kyoto UniversityDoctorate in informatics
  2. 1994Okayama UniversityMaster's degree in information engineering
  3. 1992Okayama University

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Hiroyuki Ukida. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Kyoto University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Kyoto University. 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.
  4. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Tokushima University / Educator and Researcher Directory --- Ukida, Hiroyuki pub2.db.tokushima-u.ac.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Awards | Matsuyama Lab vision.kuee.kyoto-u.ac.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Hiroyuki Ukida - Wikidata wikidata.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. KAKEN — Research Projects | ステレオ型イメージスキャナの開発と3次元物体のモデリングに関する研究 (KAKENHI-PROJECT-13780286) kaken.nii.ac.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. KAKEN — Researchers | ukida hiroyuki (60284311) nrid.nii.ac.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. JRM Vol.28 p.295 (2016) | Fuji Technology Press: academic journal publisher fujipress.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. JRM Vol.33 p.242 (2021) | Fuji Technology Press: academic journal publisher fujipress.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. KAKEN — Research Projects | Realization of 3D archives of joruri puppets that contributes to the creative restoration of historical value (KAKENHI-PROJECT-18K18483) kaken.nii.ac.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. AI Robot Reproducing Ningyo Joruri Movements Features 32 Axes and High Degrees of Freedom | News | Science Japan sj.jst.go.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.