Once, when I was at first grade, there was a homework assignment about filling-in-the-blank for a Chinese language class.
I was short of time and/or patience so I finished it as quickly as possible.
The day after submitting the assignment, the teacher came to me and asked why “there is a piece of [mouth] inside my desk drawer”, which I apparently wrote by looking at only “a piece of [ ]” without the rest of the sentence.
2023-10-22
There is a piece of mouth inside my desk drawer
Pumpkins – generative fill experiment
I used the same text prompt “pumpkins” to generatively fill regions within the graphical sign on the left and the yard on the right via Photoshop, and the corresponding results faithfully observe the surrounding contexts (graphical and physical pumpkins).
The motion graphics over the white arrow is added via Fresco.
2023-10-19
Caption video
(I need to write this down while I still feel the slight amount of excitement.)
Recently I have been involved in two projects for automatic video captioning, one for a research paper and the other for a product feature.
The research paper will be presented at UIST 2023; see this page for more details.
The product feature can be accessed via this page; if you have any feedback feel free to let me know.
The two projects share some high-level ideas (such as maintaining temporal coherence for the captions while optimizing their spatial parameters with respect to the video content), but the specific methods and implementations are quite different.
Shipping a product involves a lot of testing and tuning to ensure robust experiences for a wide range of users and use cases (often beyond what the creators can initially anticipate), while publishing a research paper often requires a lot of work in writing and presentation that can be a dominating factor in deciding its acceptance and dissemination.
2023-10-17
Quick finger sketches of public transport passengers
With fewer strokes it is more important to place them more strategically to depict the essence of the subjects.
2023-10-15
Face relief on a candelabra
I noticed this small face relief carved on a candelabra that was meant to be part of Thomas Wolsey’s tomb.
2023-10-11
Bengali fish curry
Sometimes I looked at the company lunch menu even when I was not in the office, to feel a sense of connection and anticipation.
https://youtube.com/shorts/8w3jOkLL5vk
2023-10-09
Katalin Kariko on perseverance
Very inspirational story on how to deal with setbacks (focus on what is next and do not hold grudge).
Comparatively I have had a much easier career.
2023-10-08
Squashes
Inspired by some squash arrangements I saw in a company cafeteria, I realized that I could draw a few individual squashes and rearrange them later for different compositions.
Cafe Zoe
Visited this local cafe for a photography exhibition and drew some patrons sitting outside afterwards.