PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Yoshiaki Shirai

Yoshiaki Shirai is a computer vision researcher whose work spans three-dimensional object recognition and robot vision. He earned engineering degrees in Japan, led computer-vision work at the Electrotechnical Laboratory, visited MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and became a professor at Osaka University in 1988. He became an IAPR Fellow in 1998 and served as a co-investigator on an interactive visual-recognition project for service robots in 2004–2005. In October 2024, he is a Visiting Senior Researcher at Ritsumeikan University's Research Organization of Science and Technology.

Born
1941
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1964–1969

    Engineering degrees in Japan

    He earns a B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from Nagoya University in 1964, an M.Eng. from the University of Tokyo in 1966, and a Dr.Eng. there in 1969.

  2. 1969–1985

    Computer vision at ETL

    He joins Japan's Electrotechnical Laboratory in 1969 and leads its Computer Vision Section from 1979 to 1985. He visits MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1971–1972.

  3. 1983

    Three-dimensional object recognition

    He and Masaki Oshima publish the paper “Object Recognition Using Three-Dimensional Information” in 1983.

  4. 1988

    Professor at Osaka University

    He becomes a professor in the Department of Computer-Controlled Mechanical Systems at Osaka University in 1988.

  5. 1998

    An IAPR Fellowship

    IAPR names him a Fellow in 1998 for contributions to three-dimensional object recognition and service to the association.

  6. 2004–2005

    Interactive teaching for robots

    He serves as a co-investigator on an Osaka University project on interactive teaching for task-oriented visual recognition. The project uses task and object models to guide a robot's focus and visual features during object recognition.

  7. 2005

    Professor at Ritsumeikan

    He joins Ritsumeikan University as a professor in its Department of Human and Computer Intelligence in 2005.

  8. October 2024

    Visiting Senior Researcher

    In October 2024, he is a Visiting Senior Researcher in Ritsumeikan University's Research Organization of Science and Technology.

Career

  1. From 2005Ritsumeikan UniversityProfessor, Visiting Senior Researcher
  2. From 1988Osaka UniversityProfessor
  3. 1971–1972Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  4. 1969–1985Electrotechnical LaboratorySection Leader

Education

  1. 1969University of TokyoDr.Eng.
  2. 1966University of TokyoM.Eng.
  3. 1964Nagoya UniversityB.Eng.

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Who's Yoshiaki Shirai? i.ci.ritsumei.ac.jp. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. ３次元物体認識｜ロボ學 - ROBOGAKU robogaku.jp. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Chronological List of IAPR Fellows iapr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Interactive Teaching of Task-Oriented Visual Recognition kaken.nii.ac.jp. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Thirty six (36) researchers from Ritsumeikan University ranked among the world’s top 2%! en.ritsumei.ac.jp. Checked 20 October 2026.