PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Kentaro Toyama

Also known as K. Toyama

Kentaro Toyama is a computer scientist whose research spans computer vision and technology for community development. With Andrew Blake, he published a 2001 method for probabilistic video tracking that won ICCV's Marr Prize. At Microsoft Research India, he co-founded the Technology for Emerging Markets group and worked on Digital Green. In 2015, he published Geek Heresy, which won a PROSE Award in 2016; he became an ACM Fellow in 2022 and received two SIGCHI honors in 2025. As of October 2026, he is a professor of information technology at the University of Michigan.

Works
232
Citations
15,111
h-index
53

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1998

    A Yale computer science PhD

    He completes a PhD in computer science at Yale in 1998 after earning a physics degree at Harvard. Before his work in India, he conducts computer vision and multimedia research at Microsoft Research and teaches mathematics at Ashesi University in Ghana.

  2. 2001

    Probabilistic video tracking

    With Andrew Blake, he publishes an exemplar-based method for visual tracking in 2001. Their paper wins the ICCV Best Paper Award, known as the Marr Prize, in 2001.

  3. 2005–2009

    Technology for emerging markets

    He co-founds Microsoft Research India in 2005 and starts its Technology for Emerging Markets research group. He serves as assistant managing director until 2009. His research includes Digital Green, a participatory video project for agricultural extension with Rikin Gandhi and others.

  4. 2012–2015

    Berkeley and Geek Heresy

    By 2012, he works as a development studies researcher at UC Berkeley. He publishes Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology in 2015. The book examines technologies aimed at education, health, and global poverty.

  5. 2016

    A PROSE Award

    Geek Heresy wins the 2016 PROSE Award in Business, Finance & Management.

  6. 2022

    An ACM Fellowship

    He joins the 2022 class of ACM Fellows for contributions to the innovation and critique of digital technology for socio-economic development and social justice.

  7. 2025–2026

    SIGCHI honors and awards chair

    In 2025, he joins the SIGCHI Academy and receives its Societal Impact Award. In February 2026, he serves as ACM SIGCHI adjunct chair for awards.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Michigan

    He is a professor of information technology at the University of Michigan.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Kentaro Toyama | U-M LSA Science, Technology, and Society Program (STS) prod.lsa.umich.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Probabilistic Tracking in a Metric Space - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Kentaro Toyama: Research kentarotoyama.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Computer Vision Awards – The Computer Vision Foundation thecvf.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. ICT4D Professional Profile: Kentaro Toyama | ICT4D @ Tulane tulaneict4d.wordpress.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Geek Heresy by Kentaro Toyama - Hachette Australia hachette.com.au. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. 2016 Award Winners | PROSE Awards proseawards.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  8. Kentaro Toyama - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  9. Bigham, Dabbish and Harrison Join CHI Academy | Human-Computer Interaction Institute hcii.cmu.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  10. Tech leaders to UN: For the sake of humanity, please control the AI technology we created gmg-wdiv-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com. Checked 15 October 2026.