Kiel University
Visual Computing and
Artificial Intelligence

The Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence (VCAI) lab, headed by Prof. Dr. Sören Pirk, focuses on research in the cross section of visual computing and artificial intelligence. With our research we aim to develop innovative methodologies and techniques in the areas of Generative AI and Synthetic Data, Multi-Modal and Time-variant Data Streams, and Agent-centric Representations. By combining expertise in visual computing, artificial intelligence, and data analysis, we strive to pioneer advancements in perception, modeling, and simulation. Our interdisciplinary approach allows us to address diverse challenges, ranging from generating synthetic data for training models to simulate complex natural phenomena with mathematical models. Through our research, we aim to not only expand the frontiers of knowledge but also to provide practical solutions with applications spanning various domains, ranging from computer vision and computer graphics to machine learning and robotics.
News
May 6, 2025
May, 1, 2025
April 9, 2025
April 3, 2025
March 27, 2025
February 15, 2025
February 10, 2025
January 22, 2025
January 15, 2025
December 3, 2024
November 18, 2024
November 13, 2024
November 1, 2024
October 31, 2024
October 25, 2024
October 1, 2024
September 25, 2024
September 17, 2024
The VCAI group is excited to receive the funding approval for our Visual AI Server at Kiel University handed over by Minister Schrödter: link, link.
Our paper on modeling tree dynamics with a strand-based representation was accepted to SIGGRAPH 2025: link.
Our paper on reconstructing forests from point cloud data was accepted to IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (link).
The VCAI lab hosted 12 students for Girls's Day to work on Generative AI and AI for autonomous agents (link).
The Marine Data Science (link) and Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence groups receive funding to acquire a Visual AI Server (link).
The NDR Schleswig-Holstein Magazin visited us to report on our work on fire-aware robot navigation: link
Several newspapers report on our work on building wildfire twins: Frankfurter Rundschau, Schleswig-Holsteiner Zeitung, Die Rheinpfalz, Bild.de.
Our paper on modeling hair with learned parametric representation was accepted to ICLR 2025: link.
M. Sc. Ashwath Shetty joined the research group Visiting Researcher. View Profile: link.
The VCAI group received an ERC Consolidator grant (link, link) to work on digital twins for wildfires.
Prof. Pirk talked about Generative AI and Synthetic Data at the KI.SH Networking event: link.
It was a pleasure to join the CAU-Delegation to Poznań: link.
M. Sc. Yujun Wang joined the research group as a PhD Student and Research Assistant. View Profile: link.
Our work on advanced Simulations of Wildfire Dynamics was presented at the Wildland Fire Canada Conference (WFCC) in New Brunswick: link.
It was a pleasure to attend the International Conference on Social Robotics (link) in Odense (Denmark) to present our work on gesutre-aware imitation learning: link.
Anton Wagner joined the research group as a Technical Assistant. View Profile: link.
Our paper on training large reconstruction models with synthetic data was accepted to NeurIPS: link.
Digital Salon, our AI and Physics-Driven Tool for 3D Hair Grooming and Simulation was accepted to Real-Time Live! at SIGGRAPH Asia 2024. Demo videos available here: link.
A full list of news, also including older events, can be found here: link.
Research