biography
Summary
- Kaan Akşit invents novel optics, hardware, and software for next‑generation computational display and imaging technologies. Kaan has more than ten years of experience and specialization in various novel computational display technologies, including auto‑stereoscopic displays, holographic displays and imagers, and near‑eye displays for virtual and augmented reality applications.
Collaborators
- Special thanks! Kaan is forever thankful to his collaborators for enabling his scientific journey. Kaan learned a lot from them. They shape and influence Kaan's scientific journey.
- Review processes. If you are going to invite Kaan to a review process, it is worth to check below list to make sure to maintain a fair review process. Please also make sure that you understand "Kaan's expertise" before inviting Kaan to a review process. For example, Kaan doesn't know anything about "sea creatures and their natural habitats" or "lifetime of volcanos".
- Active Collaborators (Conflicts) Listed people are Kaan’s active collaborators in the last two years in alphabetical order. Ahmet Güzel, Anthony Steed, Aydogan Ozcan, Cagatay Isil, David Robert Walton, David Swapp, Deniz Mengu, Douglas Lanman, Emrah Bostan, Fazil Onuralp Ardic, Hakan Ürey, Hanlong Chen, Huaishu Peng, Huseyin Karaca, Jason Orlosky, Jagrit Digani, Jeanne Beyazian, Jeeeun Kim, Jingxi Li, Kenan Bektaş, Kiyoshi Kiyokawa, Koray Kavaklı, Koray Mentesoglu, Liang Shi, Misha Sra, Mona Jarrahi, Mustafa Doğa Doğan, Nataliya Kos'myna, Nick Antipa, Oliver Kingshott, Praneeth Chakravathula, Rafael Kuffner dos Anjos, Rafał Mantiuk, Sebastian Friston, Qi Sun, Takumi Kaminokado, Tianyi Gan, Tim Weyrich, Tobias Höllerer, Tobias Ritschel, Wojciech Matusik, Yicheng Zhan and Yuta Itoh. For a list of Kaan's active Post-doctoral researchers, Ph.D. students and M.Sc. students visit Computational Light Laboratory's people page. Please also remember that Kaan is conflicted with the people in his affiliated institutions.
General Information
| Full Name | Kaan Akşit |
| Title | Associate Professor of Computational Light |
| kaanaksit@kaanaksit.com | |
| Languages | Turkish, English, German |
| Address | 169 Euston Road, NW1 2AE, London, United Kingdom |
Education
Work Experience
- 2021-...
Associate Professor of Computational Light
University College London
- 2014-2020
Senior Research Scientist
NVIDIA Research
- 2013
Visiting Researcher
Imagination Studios (Currently Goodbye Kansas)
- 2013
- 2010-2014
- 2009-2010
Academic Funding (Only post January 2021)
- September 2023
- January 2023
- June 2022
- January 2022
Received a top mark, project not funded due to insufficient funds
European Research Council
- November 2021
- January 2021
Granted
Two Ph.D. studentships
- Studentships with the start of the post of Associate Professor in Computer Science at UCL.
- January 2021
£20,000
UCL startup funding
- Funding with the start of the post of Associate Professor in Computer Science at UCL.
Invited Talks and Workshops
- Sample
- June 2023
- March 2023
- October 2022
New York University
United States of America
- Guest Lecture on next-generation displays (upon Assistant Professor Qi Sun's invitation)
- October 2022
Optica Frontiers in Optics
United States of America
- Realistic Image Reconstruction with Multiplane Computer-Generated Holography
- August 2021
- March 2021
University College London UNIT 21
United Kingdom
- Next Generation Display Technologies for Virtual and Augmented Reality
- August 2020
International Meeting on Information Display
South Korea
- Next Generation Display Technologies for Virtual and Augmented Reality
- December 2020
Middle East Technical University's Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department
Türkiye
- Next-Generation Computational Displays
- September 2020
Optica's Incubator on Visual Perception in AR/VR
United States of America
- Technical Panel Discussion
- September 2020
Optica's Incubator on Visual Perception in AR/VR
United States of America
- Technical Panel Discussion
- August 2020
- August 2019
- December 2018
- Marc 2018
- March 2018
- November 2017
Teaching
- sample
Sample Course
- Winter 2023
COMP0088 Introduction to Machine Learning
University College London
- December 2018
Mentorship and Guidance
-
2022
- David Robert Walton (University College London, Post-Doctoral Researcher),
- Yilin Qui (University College London, Master Student),
- Jeanne Beyazian (University College London, Master Student),
- Debosmit Neogi (National Institute of Technoogy, Agartala, India, Intern),
- Yichen Zou (Queen's University, Canada, Intern),
- Ahmet Güzel (University of Leeds, Intern)
- Nerea Sainz De La Maza (University College London, Undergraduate Student),
- Kerem Eroğlu (University College London, Undergrataduate Student),
- Serhat Aksoy (Istanbul Technical University, Erasmus Student),
- Josef Kaizer (In2Science UK Programme),
- Abubakar Sharif (In2Science UK Programme),
-
2021
- Chengkun Li (University College London, Master Student),
- Yuze Yang (University College London, Master Student),
- Oliver Kingshott (University College London, Master Student)
- Koray Kavaklı (Koç University, Master Student)
-
2020-...
- Amirhossein Ghanbari Niaki,
- Daniel Andersen,
- David Dunn,
- Doğa Doğan,
- Eric Whitmire,
- Eugene Hong,
- Kishore Rathinavel,
- Kylee Krzanich,
- Osman Eldeş,
- Praneeth Chakravathula,
- Richard Li,
- Rohan Kumar ,
- For more, please visit this link.
Awards
- 2021
- 2020
Outstanding Reviewer Recognition
Optica
- 2019
Emerging Technologies Best in Show Award
SIGGRAPH 2019
- 2019
Best Paper Nominee
IEEE VR
- Manufacturing Application Driven Foveated Near-Eye Displays, only 11 papers nominated from over 300 submissions.
- 2018
Best Paper Award
IEEE ISMAR
- FocusAR Auto-focus Augmented Reality Eyeglasses, only 11 papers nominated from over 300 submissions.
- 2018
- 2017
Emerging Technologies DC EXPO Special Prize
SIGGRAPH
- Wide Field of View Varifocal Near Eye Displays using See-Through Deformable Membrane Mirrors
- 2017
Best Paper Award
IEEE VR
- Wide Field of View Varifocal Near Eye Displays using See-Through Deformable Membrane Mirrors
- 2014
Graduate Studies Excellence Award
Koç University
- Award received from head of institute, Prof. Tekin Dereli and the dean, Prof. Ümran İnan of Koç (Also affiliated as a professor at Stanford University).
- 2014
Student Travel Grant
SID Display Week 2014
- Student travel grant from SEL (Semiconductor Energy Laboratory), Larry and Jane Weber and Larry and Carol Tannas.
- 2013
New Product Award
International 3D Society
- 2012
Merck Young Scientist Award
Merck KGaA
- Merck Young Scientist Award received from Merck group’s president, Mr. Jürgen König in 2012.
- 2012
Best Project Award
Turkish Health Industry Society
- Kaan has supervised a term project of two undergraduate students, which was recognized as the best project award from Turkish Health Industry Society in 2012.
- 2012
Best Project Award
Yıldız Technical University's IEEE Student Branch
- Best project award from YTÜ’s IEEE student branch among 131 projects; award was given by his excellency, Minister of Science and Technology of Türkiye, 2012.
- 2007
Best Place
TÜBİTAK
- TÜBİTAK Solar Car Races 2007 at Hipodrom at Ankara Solar Car Race-Among the 38 team, Won 4 trophies for 1. and 2.places in Ankara Race Arena, 1. and 3., ANOK Race 1. Place, Best Design Prize, Fastest Run for placement.
- 2006
Best Place
TÜBİTAK
- TÜBİTAK Solar Car Races 2006 at Official F1 Istanbul Racetrack and Arena Izmir Solar Car Race Among the 38 team, Won 9 trophies for 1. and 2. places in Istanbul Park F1 Race Arena, 1. and 3. Places in Izmir Race Arena, Best Design Prize, 1. and 2. Places in Placing Tours.
Memberships
-
Membership
-
Senior Membership
-
Executive Committee Member
Organizations and Public Demonstrations
-
2023
- Kaan organizes weekly seminars at University College London, hosting internal and external expert speakers on various topics.
- Kaan organizes an online discussion group on rendering, perception, displays and cameras with +250 members across globe.
-
2022
- Kaan organizes weekly seminars at University College London, hosting internal and external expert speakers on various topics.
- Kaan helped organizing Virtual and Augmented Reality theme at Frontiers in Optics of Optica.
- Kaan helped organizing Optica's Could Deep Learning Improve Visual Quality in Holographic Displays? event.
- Kaan organizes an online discussion group on rendering, perception, displays and cameras with +250 members across globe.
-
2021
- Kaan hepled organizing Optica’s Incubator on Perception in Immersive Technologies.
- Kaan helped organizing Virtual and Augmented Reality theme at Frontiers in Optics of Optica.
- Kaan organizes weekly seminars at University College London, hosting internal and external expert speakers on various topics.
- Kaan organizes an online discussion group on rendering, perception, displays and cameras with +250 members across globe.
-
2017-2018-2019
- Kaan held public demonstrations at ACM SIGGRAPH 2019. The entire exhibit is holding more than ten thousand visitors.
- Kaan held public demonstrations at ACM SIGGRAPH 2018. The entire exhibit is holding more than ten thousand visitors.
- Kaan held public demonstrations at ACM SIGGRAPH 2017. The entire exhibit is holding more than ten thousand visitors.
-
2005-2007
Review Process
-
Technical Committee
- IEEE ISMAR 2023,
- IEEE VR 2023,
- IEEE VR 2022,
- ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2021,
- IEEE ISMAR 2021,
- IEEE VR 2021,
- ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2020,
- IEEE ISMAR 2020,
-
Award Committee
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2023 LifeTime Achievement Award
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2023 Technical Achievement Award
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2023 Best Dissertation Award
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2022 LifeTime Achievement Award
- IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 2022 Technical Achievement Award
-
Grant Commitees
-
Ph.D. Thesis Examiner/Viva Duty
- Ege Keskin, Koç University, Türkiye
- Fan Yang, Cambridge University, United Kingdom
- Klara Brandstätter, University College London, United Kingdom
- Koray Kavaklı, Koç University, Türkiye
- Michael Fischer, University College London, United Kingdom
- Sanjeev Mk, University College London, United Kingdom
Media Coverage
-
2023
-
2022
-
2021
-
2019
-
2018
-
2017
- UploadVR interview, a short interview at SIGGRAPH 2017 with UploadVR.
- An article by Leiphone on our varifocal displays
- RoadToVR article on our varifocal displays
- Forbes article on our varifocal displays
- NVIDIA blog on our varifocal displays
- UPLOADVR article on our varifocal displays