KangKang Yin

Associate Professor, School of Computing Science,
Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive,
Burnaby, BC, CANADA, V5A 1S6

Office: TASC1 8015

Phone: 778-782-4190

Email: please read this

I am an Associate Professor in the School of Computing Science at the Simon Fraser University (SFU). I am interested in Computer Animation and Simulation, especially responsive character animation and real-time humanoid motion control. Other areas I work on include digital humans, AI content generation, geometry processing and deformation, and motion-based and sketch-based interfaces.

Short Bio

KangKang Yin is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Computing Science at the Simon Fraser University. From 2010 to 2016 she was a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at the National University of Singapore. She worked as an Associate Researcher at Microsoft Research Asia from 2008 to 2010, after she obtained her PhD degree from the University of British Columbia in 2007. Her research interests include Computer Animation and Geometry Processing, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Human Computer Interaction, and Humanoid Robotics. She regularly serves on the program committees of all major computer graphics conferences including SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH Asia, Eurographics, SCA(ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation), among others. She was a program co-chair for Pacific Graphics 2013, SCA2017, and Graphics Interface 2023. She has won three SCA best-paper awards (2011, 2013 and 2015). She is a senior member of ACM and IEEE.

Research Opportunities

The Visual Computing Group at SFU school of computing science ranks 11th worldwide in 2022 by http://csrankings.org/#/index?vision&graph&world. Currently I have openings for PhD students. Students with background in computer science and engineering, math, physics, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering are preferred. If you are a highly motivated undergraduate or Master's student strong in math and programming, and interested in Computer Animation, please send your resume directly to me. We collaborate with researchers and industries worldwide. I also strongly recommend you to read the following two posts about the life of a PhD student: A Survival Guide to a PhD; Students' rights and responsibilities (Chinese version)

I also have a Postdoc position available on character animation and digital human related research topics. If intereseted, please send your CV directly to me.

We are located at SFU Burnaby campus, which is about 40-minute drive from SFU Vancouver downtown campus, and 30-minute drive from SFU surrey campus. Vancouver is also known as Hollywood North, and named second best North American city for filmmaker in year 2017.

Teaching

Spring 2025: CMPT 466 - Computer Animation

Fall 2024: CMPT 766 - Computer Animation

Summer 2023: CMPT 361 - Introduction to Computer Graphics

Spring 2023: CMPT 466/766 - Computer Animation

Summer 2022: CMPT 361 - Introduction to Visual Computing

Spring 2022: CMPT 466/766 - Computer Animation

Fall 2019: CMPT 466 - Animation / CMPT985 - Computer Animation

Summer 2019: CMPT361 - Introduction to Computer Graphics

Spring 2019: CMPT361 - Introduction to Computer Graphics

Fall 2018: CMPT 466 - Animation / CMPT888 - Computer Animation

Spring 2018:

CMPT 466 D100 - Animation

CMPT 888 G300 - Special Topics in Computer Graphics, HCI, Vision and Visualization (3) - Computer Animation

Professional Activities

Program Chairs

Conference Chairs

Shape Modeling International 2019

Associate Editors

Computer Graphics Forum: 2016-2019
Computers & Graphics: 2013-2016

Program Committees

ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015
ACM SIGGRAPH 2011, 2016, 2018
ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2014 Courses
Eurographics 2012
SCA 2011, 2012, 2015, 2020
MIG 2010, 2011, 2012
CASA 2011, 2012
Graphics Interface 2018, 2022

Other Committees

ACM SIGGRAPH Nominations Committee 2017, 2018
SCA Steering Committee 2017 onwards

Paper Reviewing (selected)

ACM SIGGRAPH (ACM Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques)

ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA

Eurographics (European Association for Computer Graphics)

SCA (ACM SIGGRAPH / Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation)

Pacific Graphics (Pacific Conference on Computer Graphics and Applications)

CASA (Computer Animation and Social Agents)

MIG (Motion in Games)

TOG (ACM Transactions on Graphics)

TVCG (IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics)

CGF (Computer Graphics Forum)

Computers & Graphics

CAVW (Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds)

T-RO (IEEE Transactions on Robotics)

Publications

Motion Capture Data: SFU Motion Capture Database

Book Chapters

Simulation for Control, KangKang Yin, Libin Liu, Michiel van de Panne. In "Humanoid Robotics: a Reference" edited by Ambarish Goswami and Prahlad Vadakkepat. Springer 2018.
Biped Controller for Character Animation, KangKang Yin, Stelian Coros, Michiel van de Panne. In "Handbook of Human Motion" edited by Bertram Müller and Sebastian I. Wolf. Springer 2017.

Representative Image	Paper	Errata
	AAMDM: Accelerated Auto-regressive Motion Diffusion Model, Tianyu Li, Zhuhan Qiao, Guanqiao Ren, KangKang Yin, and Sehoon Ha. CVPR 2024. [paper 3MB][demo]
	Robust Visual Teach and Repeat for UGVs Using 3D Semantic Maps, M.Mahdavian, KangKang Yin, and Mo Chen. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Volume 7, Issue 4, October 2022, pp. 8590-8597. [pdf 7MB][demo]
	Learning to Use Chopsticks in Diverse Gripping Styles, Zeshi Yang, KangKang Yin, and Libin Liu. ACM Transactions on Graphics, Volume 41, Issue 4, Article 95 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH 2022), 17 pages. [pdf 43MB][demo 237MB]
	Discovering Diverse Athletic Jumping Strategies, Zhiqi Yin, Zeshi Yang, Michiel van de Panne, KangKang Yin. ACM Transactions on Graphics, Volume 40, Issue 4, Article 19 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH 2021), 17 pages. [pdf 10MB][main video (high jumps) 42MB][supplementary video (obstacle and long jumps) 22MB] Featured on Two Minute Papers as Simulating The Olympics...On Mars!
	Learning and Exploring Motor Skills with Spacetime Bounds, Li-Ke Ma, Zeshi Yang, Xin Tong, Baining Guo, KangKang Yin. Computer Graphics Forum, Volume 40, Issue 2 (Proc. Eurographics 2021). [pdf 17MB][demo 119MB] Featured on Two Minute Papers as AI Learned To Perform A Cartwheel…With Style!
	Linear Time Stable PD Controllers for Physics-based Character Animation, Zhiqi Yin and KangKang Yin. Computer Graphics Forum, Volume 39, Issue 8 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2020). [pdf 0.5MB][demo 140MB][code on GitHub][talk on YouTube][3-minutes talk on YouTube]
	Hierarchical Action Classification with Network Pruning, Mahdi Davoodikakhki and KangKang Yin. 15th International Symposium on Visual Computing (ISVC 2020). [pdf 0.5MB][talk 147MB]
	Towards Robust Direction Invariance in Character Animation, Li-Ke Ma, Zeshi Yang, Baining Guo, KangKang Yin. Computer Graphics Forum, Volume 38, Issue 7 (Proc. Pacific Graphics 2019). [pdf 8MB][demo 92MB]
	Laplace-Beltrami Operator on Point Clouds Based on Anisotropic Voronoi Diagram, Hongxing Qin, Yi Chen, Yunhai Wang, Xiaoyang Hong, KangKang Yin, Hui Huang. Computer Graphics Forum, Volume 37, Issue 6, September 2018, pp. 106-117. [pdf 6MB]
	Emotion Control of Unstructured Dance Movements, Andreas Aristidou, Qiong Zeng, Efstathios Stavrakis, KangKang Yin, Daniel Cohen-Or, Yiorgos Chrysanthou, Baoquan Chen. ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2017, Article 9. [pdf 24MB][ demo 46MB][supplemental materials 110MB]
	DeepLoco: Dynamic Locomotion Skills Using Hierarchical Deep Reinforcement Learning, Xue Bin Peng, Glen Berseth, KangKang Yin, Michiel van de Panne. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 36, 4, Article 41 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH 2017), 16 pages. [pdf 8MB][ highlights 104MB, main video 92MB, supplemental video 145MB]
	Crowd-driven Mid-scale Layout Design, Tian Feng, Lap-Fai Yu, Sai-Kit Yeung, KangKang Yin, Kun Zhou. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 35, 4, Article 132 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH 2016), 14 pages. [pdf 52MB][supplemental material 10MB][demo 33MB]
	Guided Learning of Control Graphs for Physics-based Characters, Libin Liu, Michiel van de Panne, KangKang Yin. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 35, 3, Article 29 (presented at SIGGRAPH 2016), 14 pages. [pdf][demo 120MB]
	Learning Reduced-Order Feedback Policies for Motion Skills, Kai Ding, Libin Liu, Michiel van de Panne, KangKang Yin. ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2015, pp. 83-92. [pdf][demo 18MB] SCA2015 Best Paper Award
	Deformation Capture and Modeling of Soft Objects, Bin Wang, Longhua Wu, KangKang Yin, Uri Ascher, Libin Liu, Hui Huang. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 34, 4, Article 94 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH 2015), 12 pages. [pdf 70MB][pdf 14MB][demo 70MB]
	Improving Sampling-based Motion Control, Libin Liu, KangKang Yin, Baining Guo. Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. Eurographics 2015), Volume 34, Issue 2, pp. 415-423. [pdf][demo 60MB]
	Control of Rotational Dynamics for Ground and Aerial Behavior. Victor Zordan, David Brown, Adriano Macchietto, KangKang Yin. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), Volume 20, Issue 10, October 2014, pp. 1356-1366. [pdf][demo]
	Direction-Changing Fall Control of Humanoid Robots: Theory and Experiments, Ambarish Goswami, Seung-kook Yun, Umashankar Nagarajan, Sung-Hee Lee, KangKang Yin, and Shivaram Kalyanakrishnan. Autonomous Robots, Volume 36, Issue 3, March 2014, pp. 199-223. [pdf]
	Simulation and Control of Skeleton-driven Soft Body Characters, Libin Liu, KangKang Yin, Bin Wang, Baining Guo. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 32, 6, Article 215 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA, November 2013), 8 pages. [pdf][demo 108MB]
	Symmetry Robust Descriptor for Non-Rigid Surface Matching, Zhiyuan Zhang, KangKang Yin, Kelvin W.C. Foong. Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. Pacific Graphics 2013), Volume 32, Issue 7, pp. 355-362. [pdf]
	Control of Rotational Dynamics for Ground Behaviors, David F. Brown, Adriano Macchietto, KangKang Yin, Victor Zordan. ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2013, pp. 55-61, 2013. [pdf][mp4 43MB] SCA2013 Best Paper Award
	Terrain Runner: Control, Parameterization, Composition, and Planning for Highly Dynamic Motions, Libin Liu, KangKang Yin, Michiel van de Panne, Baining Guo. ACM Trans. Graph. 31, 6, Article 154 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA, November 2012), 9 pages. [pdf][long demo 106MB][short demo 17MB]
	Learning Reduced-order Feedback Policies for Motion Skills, Kai Ding, Libin Liu, Michiel van de Panne, and KangKang Yin. University of British Columbia, Computer Science technical report TR-2012-06, 2012, 10 pages. [pdf]
	Virtual Try-on using Kinect and HD camera, Stevie Giovanni, Yeun Chul Choi, Jay Huang, Eng Tat Khoo, KangKang Yin. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 7660 ( Proc. Motion in Games 2012), pp. 55-65, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. [pdf][YouTube Demo 1][YouTube Demo 2]
	Detail-Preserving Controllable Deformation from Sparse Examples, Haoda Huang, KangKang Yin, Ling Zhao, Yue Qi, Yizhou Yu, Xin Tong. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), VOL. 18, NO. 8, August 2012, pages 1215-1227. [pdf 29M][mov 127M]
	LocoTest: Deploying and Evaluating Physics-based Locomotion on Multiple Simulation Platforms, Stevie Giovanni and KangKang Yin. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, volume 7060 ( Proc. Motion in Games 2011), pp. 227-241, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. [pdf][mov 17M][source code available]
	Discriminative Sketch-based 3D Model Retrieval via Robust Shape Matching, Tianjia Shao, Weiwei Xu, KangKang Yin, Jingdong Wang, Kun Zhou, Baining Guo. Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. Pacific Graphics 2011), Volume 30, Issue 7, pages 2011-2020. [pdf][supplemental material][avi 20M]
	Controllable Hand Deformation from Sparse Examples with Rich Details, Haoda Huang, Ling Zhao, KangKang Yin, Yue Qi, Yizhou Yu, Xin Tong. ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2011, 73-82, 2011. [pdf][avi 49M] SCA2011 Best Paper Award
	Sampling-based Contact-rich Motion Control, Libin Liu, KangKang Yin, Michiel van de Panne, Tianjia Shao, Weiwei Xu. ACM Trans. Graph. 29, 4, Article 128 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH, July 2010), 10 pages. [pdf][mov 46M] [demo video at YouTube]
	Joint-aware Manipulation of Deformable Models, Weiwei Xu, Jun Wang, KangKang Yin, Kun Zhou, Michiel van de Panne, Falai Chen, Baining Guo. ACM Trans. Graph. 28, 3, Article 35 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH, August 2009), 9 pages. [pdf][mov 70M]	Equation 8 is wrong, the right-hand-side should be the "plane distance" in Figure 3b.
	Synthesis of Constrained Walking Skills, Stelian Coros, Philippe Beaudoin, KangKang Yin, and Michiel van de Panne. ACM Trans. Graph. 27, 5, Article 113 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA, December 2008), 9 pages. [pdf][mov 129M]
	Continuation Methods for Adapting Simulated Skills, KangKang Yin, Stelian Coros, Philippe Beaudoin, and Michiel van de Panne. ACM Trans. Graph. 27, 3, Article 81 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH, August 2008), 7 pages. [pdf][mov 37M]
	SIMBICON: Simple Biped Locomotion Control, KangKang Yin, Kevin Loken, and Michiel van de Panne. ACM Trans. Graph. 26, 3, Article 105 (Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH, August 2007), 10 pages. JSIMBICON Java Applet for a planar 7-link biped [pdf][videos: overview 61M, drunk, downhill,spin, limp, boxes,different friction]	Figure 2: Finite state machine for walking The simulation step for 3D bipeds is 0.0005s
	Omnidirectional Humanoid Balance Control: Multiple Strategies for Reacting to a Push, KangKang Yin, and Michiel van de Panne. University of British Columbia, Computer Science technical report TR-2006-11, 2006, 6 pages. [pdf]
	Data-driven Interactive Balancing Behaviors, KangKang Yin, Dinesh K. Pai, and Michiel van de Panne, PG '05: Proceedings of the 13th Pacific Conference on Computer Graphics and Applications, 118-121, 2005. [pdf][wmv 25M]
	FootSee: an Interactive Animation System, KangKang Yin, and Dinesh K. Pai, SCA '03: Proceedings of the 2003 ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics symposium on Computer animation, 329-338, 2003. [pdf][avi 35M]
	Motion Perturbation Based on Simple Neuromotor Control Models, KangKang Yin, Michael B. Cline, and Dinesh K. Pai, PG '03: Proceedings of the 11th Pacific Conference on Computer Graphics and Applications, 445-449, 2003. [pdf] [avi 2M]
	Robust Mesh Watermarking Based on Multiresolution Processing, KangKang Yin, Zhigeng Pan, Jiaoying Shi, and David Zhang, Computers & Graphics 25(3): 409-420, 2001. [pdf]
	A Secure Transaction Model Based on Digital Steganography and Watermarking, Kangkang Yin, Zhigeng Pan, Hui Xiang, Jiaoying Shi, CAD&CG'99, 1999.
	Texture Watermarking in VRML Scenes, KangKang Yin, Zhigeng Pan, Jiaoying Shi, ChinaGraph'2000 and Journal of Engineering Graphics, Vol.21, No.3, pp.126-131, 2000 (in Chinese)
	A Robust Image Watermarking Algorithm, KangKang Yin, Jiaoying Shi, Zhigeng Pan, Journal of Software, 2000 (in Chinese) [pdf]
	Exploiting PowerDynamo to Develop Web-based Applications of Database Systems, KangKang Yin, Lixia Yan, Hui Xiang, Jiaoying Shi, Computer Application Research, 1999(10) (in Chinese)
	Development of WWW Database System based on Internet/Intranet, Lixia Yan, KangKang Yin, Hui Xiang, Jiaoying Shi. Computer Engineering and Application, 1999 (in Chinese)
	Multimedia Watermarking Systems and Their Attack Analysis, KangKang Yin, Hui Xiang, Jiaoying Shi. Computer Science, 1999(9) (in Chinese)
	Application and Analysis of Information Reordering in Lossy Predictive Image Compression Systems, KangKang Yin, Hui Xiang, Jiaoying Shi. , The Sixth National Multimedia Technology Conference,1997 (in Chinese)

International Patents

Patent# US8498846 B2. Joint-aware Manipulation of Deformable Models. Weiwei Xu, Jun Wang, KangKang Yin, Kun Zhou, Michiel van de Panne, Baining Guo. Publication Date: Jul 30, 2013.
Patent# US8352077 B2. Inertia Shaping for Humanoid Fall Direction Change. Ambarish Goswami, Seung-kook Yun, KangKang Yin, Yoshiaki Sakagami. Publication Date: Jan 8, 2013.