[Abstract]

With the rapid maturation of generative AI, the academic community faces a critical question: which frontiers of Computer Vision remain "unsolved"? In this talk, I argue that the field is evolving into two distinct but complementary challenges: the fundamental quest for 4D world modeling and the commercial revolution of generative imaging.

First, I will discuss our efforts in 4D Reconstruction from streaming video, which I believe is the ultimate goal of computer vision—moving beyond static 3D geometry to understand the dynamic actions and temporal evolution of our environment. I will present our recent progress in Streaming Video Understanding, focusing on how we can reconstruct the 4D world in real-time from continuous visual streams.

Second, I will introduce the more immediate, industry-driven concept of Generative Photography through our ongoing project, the “Diffusion Camera.” Unlike traditional cameras that merely record light, the Diffusion Camera acts as a foundation model that unifies the camera ISP, semantic editing, and personalization. While this project is in its early stages, I will share our motivation for redefining the camera as a generative engine rather than a passive sensor. By separating these two tracks, this talk aims to provide a roadmap for students to navigate both the deep academic challenges and the high-impact commercial opportunities in modern AI.

[Biography]

Seon Joo Kim is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Yonsei University, where he currently serves as the Chairman of the Yonsei AI Graduate School. From 2022 to 2025, he was honored as an Underwood Distinguished Professor in recognition of his academic excellence.

His research resides at the forefront of computer vision and computational photography, with a current focus on streaming video understanding and the emerging field of generative photography. Professor Kim currently serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE TPAMI and as Vice President of the Korean Computer Vision Society. His extensive service to the field includes roles as a Senior Area Chair and Area Chair for premier AI conferences, including CVPR, NeurIPS, and ICCV.