• Human-Centered Computing
• Computer Graphics and Animation
• Virtual Reality
• Human-AI Interaction
• Multimodal Interaction

Ph.D. Computer Science  University of Southern California

M.S. Computer Science  University of Southern California

M.S. Computer Science  Peking University, China

B.S. Mathematics  Xiamen University, China

University of Houston  Houston, TX
Moores Professor (9/2021 - ), Computer Science Department
Director of Graduate Studies (08/2015 - ), Computer Science Department
Founding Director (9/2006 - ), UH Computer Graphics and Interactive Media Lab
Full Professor (9/2016 - 8/2021), Computer Science Department
Associate Professor (09/2012 - 08/2016), Computer Science Department
Assistant Professor (09/2006 - 08/2012), Computer Science Department

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston  Houston, TX
Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Informatics

Qualcomm Inc.  San Diego, CA
R&D Consultant

AT&T Research Lab  Florham Park, NJ
Summer Research Intern

University of Southern California  Los Angeles, CA
Graduate Student Researcher, Integrated Media System Center

Leyou.com Inc.,  Beijing, China
Software Engineer

Founder Research and Development Center  Beijing, China
Software Engineer

Peking University  Beijing, China
Graduate Student Researcher

ACM MM 2025 Outstanding Paper Award

University of Houston Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (Full Prof Level)

University of Houston President's Circle Award

ACM ICMI 2024 Best Paper Runner-up Award

IEEE TCCLS Best Paper Award

ACM Distinguished Member

University of Houston John and Rebecca Moores Professorship

CASA 2018 Best Paper Runner-up Award

CASA 2017 Best Paper Award

ACM Recognition of Service Award

ACM Senior Member

ACM ICMI Ten Year Technical Impact Award

University of Houston Group Teaching Excellence Award

IEEE RAS/EMBS BioRob 2012 Best Student Paper Award Finalist

IEEE ICRA 2012 Best Medical Robotics Paper Runner-up Award

IEEE Senior Member

Google Faculty Research Award

USC Academic Achievement Award

Peking University Kodak Fellowship

Peking University Guang-Hua Fellowship

Computer Animation and Simulation (COSC6356, University of Houston)
offered at: Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2009, Spring 2007

Advanced Game Development (COSC4397/6397, University of Houston)
offered at: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010, Spring 2009
co-teaching with C. Yun.

Introduction to Game Development (COSC4358/6358, University of Houston)
offered at: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009, Fall 2008, Fall 2007
co-teaching with C. Yun.

3D Computer Graphics (COSC6372, University of Houston)
offered at: 2007 to 2025.

Introduction to Computer Graphics (COSC4370, University of Houston)
offered at: 2014 to 2025

Advanced Topics in Computer Graphics and Animation (COSC7397, University of Houston)
offered at: Fall 2009

Ubiquitous Computing (COSC4397, University of Houston)
offered at: Fall 2006
co-teaching with I. Pavlidis.

A total of 197 peer-refereed papers (111 journal papers + 86 conference papers) include 48 papers published on ACM/IEEE transactions and journals, 9 TOG/SIGGRAPH, 15 TVCG, 14 EG/CGF/SGP/PG, 11 CHI/ICMI/ISMAR/VR, 11 ICCV/ECCV/AAAI/MM/MICCAI, 15 SCA/I3D, etc.

The public profile of my Google Scholar Citations

My DBLP Entry

The Visual Computer, Special Issue on CGI 2024, Guest Editors: Nadia M. Thalmann, Jinman Kim, Bin Sheng, Jian Zhang, Zhigang Deng, Enrico Gobbetti, Ping Li, Daniel Thalmann, 40(7), July 2024, Springer Press.

Computer Graphics Forum, 42(7), Special Issue on Pacific Graphics 2023, Editors: Raphaelle Chaine, Zhigang Deng, and Min H. Kim, Wiley Press, October 2023.

Computer & Graphics, Special Issue on MIG 2022, Guest Editors: Aniket Bera, Claudia Esteves, Aline Normoyle, and Zhigang Deng, Volume 110, Jan 2023, Elsevier Press.

Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction, and Games (MIG) 2022, Editors: Aniket Bera, Claudia Esteves, Aline Normoyle, and Zhigang Deng, ACM Press, November 2022.

Handbook of Human Motion, Editors: Bertram Muller, Sebastian I. Wolf, Gert-Peter Bruggemann, Zhigang Deng, Andrew S. McIntosh, Freeman Miller, W. Scott Selbie, Springer Press, April 2018, total 3 volumes, 2500+ pages.

Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) 2015, Editors: Jernej Barbic, Zhigang Deng, Stelian Coros, and Florence Bertails-Descoubes, ACM Press, August 2015.

Advances in Visual Computing (Proceeding of International Symposium on Visual Computing 2014), Editors: George Bebis, Richard Boyle, Bahram Parvin, Darko Koracin, Ryan McMahan, Jason Jerald, Hui Zhang, Steven M. Drucker, Chandra Kambhamettu, Maha El Choubassi, Zhigang Deng, Springer Press, Dec 2014.

Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds, 25(3-4), Special Issue for CASA 2014, Editors: Zhigang Deng, Nadia Magnenat-Thalmann, John P. Lewis, Pierre Poulin, and Daniel Thalmann, Wiley Press, May 2014.

Multimedia Tools and Applications, Special Issue on Expressive Talking Avatar Synthesis and Animation, Guest Editors: Lei Xie, Jia Jia, Helen Meng, Zhigang Deng, and Lijun Wang, Springer Press, January 2015.

Multimedia Tools and Applications, Special Issue on Multimodal Joint Information Processing in Human Machine Interaction: Recent Advances, Guest Editors: Lei Xie, Zhigang Deng, and Stephen Cox, Springer Press, Nov 2013.

Data-Driven 3D Facial Animation, Editors: Zhigang Deng, Ulrich Neumann, Spring-Verlag Press, October 2007.

• Data-Driven Control of Insect Flapping Flight via Deep Reinforcement Learning, Qiang Chen, Tingsong Lu, Yumin Fang, Camille Le Roy, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), [accepted in March 2026].

• Dynamic Augmented Reality Cues for Telementoring in Laparoscopic Surgery: Usability Study, Jhasketan Padhan, Hawa Hamza, Dehlela Shabir, Omar M. Aboumarzouk, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Panagiotis Tsiamyrtzis, Zhigang Deng, and Nikhil V. Navkar, JMIR Human Factors , March 2026, Volume 13, Article e86566, JMIR Publications.

• Multi-TPC: A Multimodal Dataset for Three-Party Conversations with Speech, Motion, and Gaze, Meng-Chen Lee, and Zhigang Deng, Scientific Data, Volume 13, Article 429, March 2026, Nature Press.

• Towards Fast Safe Online Reinforcement Learning via Policy Finetuning, Keru Chen, Honghao Wei, Zhigang Deng, and Sen Lin, Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR),TMLR Inc., [accepted in Jan 2026].

• A Real-Time Markerless Approach for 3D Pose Estimation of Laparoscopic Instruments in Surgical Training Simulators, Dehlela Shabir, Jhasketan Padhan, Nihal Abdulrahiman, Omar Aboumarzouk, Zhigang Deng, Khaled Shaban, Nikhil V. Navkar, IEEE Access, Volume 13, Dec 2025, pp. 216646 - 216662, IEEE Press.

• Robust Differentiable Sketch Rendering for Single-View 3D Reconstruction, Aobo Jin, Qixin Deng, Lei Si, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), Eurographics Association, [accepted in November 2025].

• Mixed Reality Based Training Simulator for Learning Scope Maneuvering Skills in Hysteroscopy, Waseem Palliyali, Hawa Hamza, Mohammad Khorasani, Omar Aboumarzouk, Abdulla Al Ansari, Zhigang Deng, and Nikhil V. Navkar, Virtual Reality (VR), Springer Press, [accepted in November 2025].

• Structural Chain of Thoughts for Radiology Education, Akash Awasthi, Brandon Chung, Anh Mai Vu, Saba Khan, Ngan Hoang Le, Zhigang Deng, Rishi Agrawal, Carol C. Wu, Hien Van Nguyen, Knowledge-Based Systems (KBS), Volume 330, Part A, November 2025, 114433, Elsevier Press.

• HySim: Towards Development of a Surgical Simulation Framework with Improved Visual and Tactile Realism, Waseem Palliyali, Hawa Hamza, Santu Paul, Ali Baig, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Omar Aboumar-zouk, Zhigang Deng, Nikhil V. Navkar, Virtual Reality, Volume 29, Article 111, July 2025, Springer Press.

• A Collaborative Approach Integrating AI and Human Expertise to Improve Detection of Abnormalities on Chest Radiographs through Correction of Perceptual Errors, Akash Awasthi, Ngan Le, Zhigang Deng, Carol C. Wu, and Hien Van Nguyen, Radiology: Artificial Intelligence (RYAI), 7(5), September 2025, RSNA Press.
[Commentary on RYAI]

• Modeling radiologists' cognitive processes using a digital gaze twin to enhance radiology training, Akash Awasthi, Anh Vu Mai, Ngan Le, Zhigang Deng, Supratik Maulik, Rishi Agrawal, Carol C. Wu, and Hien V. Nguyen, Scientific Reports, Volume 15, article number 13685, April 2025, Nature Press.

• ItpCtrl-AI: End-to-End Interpretable and Controllable Artificial Intelligence by Modeling Radiologists' Intentions, Trong-Thang Phama, Jacob Brecheisen, Carol Wu, Hien Nguyen, Zhigang Deng, Donald Adjeroh, Gianfranco Doretto, Arabinda Choudhary, and Ngan Le, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM), Elsevier Press, Volume 160, pages 103054:1 - 103054:16, Feb 2025.

• Bridging Human and Machine Intelligence: Reverse-Engineering Radiologist Intentions for Clinical Trust and Adoption, Akash Awasthi, Ngan Le, Zhigang Deng, Rishi Agrawal, Carol C. Wu, and Hien Nguyen, Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (CSBJ), 24(2024), pp. 711-723, Elsevier Press.
[Invited Article]

• A Holographic Telementoring System Depicting Surgical Instrument Movements for Real-time Guidance in Open Surgeries, Malek Anabtawi, Dehlela Shabir, Jhasketan Padhan, Abdulla Al Ansari, Omar M Aboumarzouk, Zhigang Deng, Nikhil V. Navkar, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine (CMPB), 256(2024), pp. 108396, Elsevier Press.

• Large Scale Farm Scene Modeling from Remote Sensing Imagery, Zhiqi Xiao, Hao Jiang, Zhigang Deng, Wenwei Han, Ran Li, and Zhaoqi Wang, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Special Issue for ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 Journal Papers, 43(6), Article 260, 12 pages, December 2024, ACM Press..

• Color Theme Evaluation through User Aesthetic Preference Modeling, Bailin Yang, Tianxiang Wei, Xiaohui Liang, Frederick W. B. Li, Zhigang Deng, and Yili Fang, ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP), 21(3), July 2024, Article 12, pages 12:1 - 12:35, ACM Press.

• Agent-based Crowd Simulation: An In-depth Survey of Determining Factors for Heterogenous Behavior, Saba Khan, and Zhigang Deng, The Visual Computer, Special Issue for CGI 2024, July 2024, Springer press. 40(7), July 2024, pp. 4993-5004.

• A Bio-inspired Model for Bee Simulations, Qiang Chen, Wenxu Guo, Yuming Fang, Yang Tong, Tingsong Lu, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 31(4), pp. 2073 - 2085, 2025,

• Noise4Denoise: Leveraging Noise for Unsupervised Point Cloud Denoising, Weijia Wang, Xiao Liu, Hailing Zhou, Lei Wei, Zhigang Deng, Manzur Murshed, and Xuequan Lu, Computational Visual Media, Volume 10, No. 4, August 2024, pp. 659 -669, Springer Press.

• Learning Facial Expression-aware Global-to-local Representation for Robust Action Unit Detection, Rudong An, Wei Zhang, Hao Zeng, Wei Chen, Zhigang Deng, and Yu Ding, Applied Intelligence, 54(2), 1405-1425, 2024, Spring press.

• A Live Speech Driven Avatar-mediated Three-party Telepresence System: Design and Evaluation, Aobo Jin, Qixin Deng, Luming Ma, and Zhigang Deng, PRESENCE: Virtual and Augmented Reality, Volume 29, 2023, pp. 113-139, MIT press.

• Fuzzy-based Indoor Scene Modeling with Differentiated Examples, Qiang Fu, Hongbo Fu, Bin Zhou, Xueming Li, and Zhigang Deng, Computational Visual Media, 9(4), 2023, pp. 717-732, Springer Press.

• Detecting Facial Action Units from Global-Local Fine-grained Expressions, Wei Zhang, Lincheng Li, Yu Ding, Wei Chen, Zhigang Deng, Xin Yu, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (TCSVT), 34(2), 2024, pp. 983 - 994.

• Effects of Spatial Constraints and Ages on Children's Upper Limb Performance in Mid-air Gesture Interaction, Fei Lyu, Huijing Li, Qiang Fu, Yujie Liu, Jin Huang, Zhigang Deng, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS), Feb 2023, Volume 170, 202952, Elsevier press.

• A Practical Model for Realistic Butterfly Flight Simulation, Qiang Chen, Tingsong Lu, Yang Tong, Guoliang Luo, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), 41(3), June 2022, Article 31, pages 31:1 - 31:12, ACM Press . (presented on ACM SIGGRAPH 2022)

• A Music-driven Deep Generative Model for Guzheng Playing Animation, Jiali Chen, Changjie Fan, Zhimeng Zhang, Gongzheng Li, Zeng Zhao, Jiajun Bu, Zhigang Deng, Yu Ding, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG) , 29(2), Feb 2023, pp. 1400-1414.

• Plausible 3D Face Wrinkle Generation Using Variational Autoencoders, Qixin Deng, Luming Ma, Aobo Jin, Huikun Bi, Binh Huy Le, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 28(9), September 2022, pages 3113-3125.

• R-CTM: A Data-Driven Macroscopic Simulation Model for Heterogeneous Traffic, Jingyao Liu, Zhigang Deng, Tianlu Mao, Zhaoqi Wang, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds, Special Issue for CASA'22, 33(3-4), July/August 2022, Wiley Press.

• Evaluation of User-Interfaces for Controlling Movements of Virtual Minimally Invasive Surgical Instruments, Dehlela Shabir, Malek Anbatawi, Jhasketan Padhan, Shidin Balakrishnan, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Julien Abinahed, Panagiotis Tsiamyrtzis, Elias Yaacoub, Amr Mohammed, Zhigang Deng, Nikhil V. Navkar, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery (MRCAS), 18(5), October 2022, Wiley press.

• Preliminary Design and Evaluation of a Remote Tele-Mentoring System for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Dehlela Shabir, Nihal Abdurahiman, Jhasketan Padhan, Malek Anbatawi, May Trinh, Shidin Balakrishnan, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Elias Yaacoub, Zhigang Deng, Aiman Erbad, Amr Mohammed, Nikhil V. Navkar, Surgical Endoscopy, 36(5), May 2022, Springer Press, pp. 3663-3674.

• Teen Reactions to a Self-representational Avatar: A Qualitative Exploration, Emily Baysden, Ninna Mendoza, Chishinga Callender, Zhigang Deng, Debora Thompson, Journal of Sport and Health Science (JSHS), 11(2), March 2022, pages 157-163, Elsevier press.

• Indoor Layout Programming via Virtual Navigation Detectors,, Qiang Fu, Hongbo Fu, Zhigang Deng, and Xueming Li, Science China - Information Science (SCIS), August 2022, vol 65, pp. 189101:1-189101:2.

• Motion Planning for Convertible Indoor Scene Layout Design,, Guoming Xiong, Qiang Fu, Hongbo Fu, Bin Zhou, Guoliang Luo, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 27(12), December 2021, pp. 4413 - 4424.

• Emotion-based Crowd Simulation Model Based on Physical Strength Consumption for Emergency Scenarios,, Mingliang Xu, Chaochao Li, Pei Lv, Wei Chen, Zhigang Deng, Bing Zhou, and Dinesh Manocha, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems (TITS), 22(11), Nov 2021, pp. 6977 - 6991.

• Crowd Behavior Simulation with Emotional Contagion in Unexpected Multi-hazard Situations, Mingliang Xu, Xiaozheng Xie, Pei Lv, Hua Wang, Yibo Guo, Zhigang Deng, and Bing Zhou, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems (TSMC), March 2021, 51(3), pp. 1567- 1581.

• Towards Development of a Tele-Mentoring Framework for Minmally Invasive Surgeries,Dehlela Shabir, Nihal Abdurahiman, Jhasketan Padhan, May Trinh, Shidin Balakrishnan, Mohamed Kurer, Omar Ali, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Elias Yaccoub, Zhigang Deng, Aiman Erbad, Amr Mohammed, Nikhil V. Navkar, International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery (MRCAS), 17(5), October 2021, e2305, Wiley press.

• A Linear Wave Propagation based Simulation Model for Dense and Polarized Crowds, Qiang Chen, Guoliang Luo, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal, Jan/Feb 2021, 32(1), e1977.

• A Deep Learning-based Framework for Intersectional Traffic Simulation and Editing, Huikun Bi, Tianlu Mao, Zhaoqi Wang, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 26(7), July 2020, pp. 2335-2348.

• Curve Skeleton Extraction from 3D Point Clouds through Hybrid Feature Point Shifting and Clustering, Hailong Hu, Zhong Li, Xiaogang Jin, Zhigang Deng, Yi Shen, and Minhong Chen, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 39(6), September 2020, pp. 111-132.

• Hyperspectral Inverse Skinning, Songrun Liu, Jianchao Tan, Zhigang Deng, and Yotam Gingold, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 39(6), September 2020, pp. 49-65.

• Spatio-temporal Segmentation based Adaptive Compression of Dynamic Mesh Sequences, Guoliang Luo, Zhigang Deng, Xiaogang Jin, Xin Zhao, Wei Zeng, Wenqiang Xie, and Hyewon Seo, ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing Communication Applications (TOMM), March 2020, 16(1), Article No. 14, pp. 14:1-14:24.

• Sketch-based Shape Constrained Fireworks Simulation in Head Mounted Virtual Reality, Xiaoyu Cui, Ruifan Cai, Xiangjun Tang, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (CAVW), 31(2), March/April 2020, e1920.
[Featured Cover Article]

• Motion-aware Compression and Transmission of Mesh Animation Sequences, Bailin Yang, Luhong Zhang, Frederick Li, Xiaoheng Jiang, Zhigang Deng, Meng Wang, and Mingliang Xu, ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST), 10(3), April 2019, article 25, pages 25:1-25:21.

• Dictionary-based Fidelity Measure for Virtual Traffic, Qianwen Chao, Zhigang Deng, Yangxi Xiao, Bangdun He, Qiguang Miao, and Xiaogang Jin, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 26(3), March 2020, pp. 1490-1501.

• Low-level Characterization of Expressive Head Motion through Frequency Domain Analysis, Yu Ding, Lei Shi, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (TAC), 11(3), July/September 2020, pages 405-418.

• A Survey on Visual Traffic Simulation: Models, Evaluations, and Applications in Autonomous Driving, Qianwen Chao, Huikun Bi, Weizi Li, Tianlu Mao, Zhaoqi Wang, Ming C. Lin, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 39(1), Feb 2020, pp. 287-308.
[Top 10% downloaded CGF Paper 2018-2019]

• 3D Articulated Skeleton Extraction Using a Single Consumer-Grade Depth Camera, Xuequan Lu, Zhigang Deng, Wenzi Chen, Sai-Kit Yeung, Jun Luo, and Ying He, Computer Vision and Image Understanding (CVIU), Volume 188, November 2019, Article 102792.

• A Color-Pair Based Approach for Accurate Color Harmony Estimation, Bailin Yang, Tianxiang Wei, Xianyong Fang, Zhigang Deng, Frederick w.b. Li, Xiaohui Liang, Yun Ling, and Xun Wang, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), Special Issue for Pacific Graphics (PG) 2019, 38(7), Oct 2019, pp. 481-490.

• A Deep Learning based Model for Head and Eye Motion Generation in Three-party Conversations, Aobo Jin, Qixin Deng, Yuting Zhang, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of the ACM on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (PACM-CGIT), Special Issue for ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) 2019, July 2019. Volume 2, Issue 2, Article 9, pages 9:1-9:19, ACM press.

• Screwing Assembly Oriented Interactive Model Segmentation in HMD VR Environment, Xiaoqiang Zhu, Lei Song, Nan Wang, Ruiheng Zhang, Shenshuai Chen, Xiangyang Wang, Mengyao Zhu, Lihua You, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), special issue for CASA'19, 30(3-4), July/August 2019, e1880.

• Shape-constrained Flying Insects Animation, Qiang Chen, Guoliang Luo, Yang Tong, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), special issue for CASA'19, 30(3-4), July/August 2019, e1902.

• Efficient and Realistic Character Animation through Analytical Physics-based Skin Deformation, Shaojun Bian, Zhigang Deng, Ehtzaz Chaudhry, Lihua You, Xiaosong Yang, Lei Guo, Hassan Ugail, Xiaogang Jin, Zhidong Xiao, and Jian Jun Zhang, Graphical Models (GMOD), Elsevier, July 2019, Volume 104, article 101035.

• Inter-session Reliability and Within-session Stability of a Novel Perception-Action Coupling Task, Chris Connaboy, Caleb D. Johnson, Alice D. LaGoy, Gert-Jan Pepping, Ricard J. Simpson, Zhigang Deng, Luming Ma, Joanne L. Bower, Shawn R. Eagle, Shawn D. Flanagan, Candice A. Alfano, Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance (AMHP), Volume 90, Number 2, Feb 2019, pages 77-83.

• Biologically Inspired Ant Colony Simulation, Wei Xiang, Jiaping Ren, Kuan Wang, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (CAVW), 30(5), September/October 2019, e1867.

• Real-time Facial Expression Transformation for Monocular RGB Video, Luming Ma, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 38(1), Feb 2019, pp. 470-481.
[Top 10% downloaded CGF Paper 2018-2019]

• Realistic Data-Driven Traffic Flow Animation using Texture Synthesis, Qianwen Chao, Zhigang Deng, Jiaping Ren, Qianqian Ye, and Xiaogang Jin, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 24(2), Feb 2018, pp. 1167-1178.

• Online Global Non-rigid Registration for 3D Object Reconstruction Using Consumer-level Depth Cameras, Jiamin Xu, Weiwei Xu, Yin Yang, Zhigang Deng, and Hujun Bao, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF) , Special Issue for Pacific Graphics 2018, 37(7), Oct 2018, pp. 1-12.

• Sketch-based Shape-preserving Tree Animations, Yutong Wang, Luyuan Wang, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal, Special Issue for CASA'18, 29(3-4), May/August 2018, e1821.
[Best Paper Runner-up Award]

• Variational Mannequin Approximation Using Spheres and Capsules, Nannan Wu, Dongliang Zhang, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, IEEE Access, 2018, volume 6, pp. 25921-25929.

• A Fast Garment Fitting Algorithm Using Skeleton based Error Metric, Nannan Wu, Zhigang Deng, Dongliang Zhang, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal, Special Issue for CASA'18, 29(3-4), May/August 2018, e1811.

• Photorealistic Avatar and Teen Physical Activity: Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy, Deborah Thompson, Dora Cantu, Chishinga Callender, Yan Liu, Madhur Rajendran, Mayur Rajendran, Yuting Zhang, and Zhigang Deng, Games for Health Journal (GFH), Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publisher, Volume 7, Number 2, April 2018, pp. 143-150.

• Shadow Traffic: A Unified Model for Abnormal Traffic Behavior Simulation, Hua Wang, Mingliang Xu, Fubao Zhu, Zhigang Deng, Yafei Li, and Bin Zhou, Computer & Graphics (C&G), Special issue for CAD/Graphics'17, Volume 70, Feb 2018, pp. 235-241.

• Robust Structure Simplification for Hex Re-meshing, Xifeng Gao, Daniele Panozzo, Wenping Wang, Zhigang Deng, and Guoning Chen, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2017 Papers, 36(6), November 2017, Article 185, 13 pages.
[The source code of this work can be found in this PROJECT PAGE.]

• Creative Virtual Tree Modeling through Hierarchical Topology-preserving Blending, Yutong Wang, Xiaowei Yue, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 23(12), Dec 2017, pp. 2521-2534.

• Rigging and Fabricating Creative Characters, Xuekun Guo, Hao Chen, Tian Qiu, Juncong Lin, Zhigang Deng, Yangxi Xiao, and Xiaogang Jin, Journal of Computer Aided Design and Computer Graphics (CAD&CG), 29(7), July 2017, pp. 1177-1185.

• Evaluating Hex-mesh Quality Metrics via Correlation Analysis, Xifeng Gao, Jin Huang, Kaoji Xu, Zherong Pan, Zhigang Deng, and Guoning Chen, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), Special issue for SGP'17, 36(5), August 2017, pp. 105-116 .
[The source code of this work can be found in this LINK.]
[The dataset of this work can be found in this LINK.]

• Hexahedral Meshing with Varying Element Sizes, Kaoji Xu, Xifeng Gao, Zhigang Deng, and Guoning Chen, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 36(8), December 2017, pp. 540-553.

• Topologically Consistent Leafy Tree Morphing, Yutong Wang, Xiaowei Yue, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds (CAVW), Special issue for CASA'17, 28(3-4), May/August 2017, 13 pages, e1761.
[Best Paper Award]

• An Efficient Approach for Feature-preserving Mesh Denoising, Xuequan Lu, Xiaohong Liu, Zhigang Deng, and Wenzi Chen, Optics and Lasers in Engineering (OLEN), Elsevier Press, Volume 90, March 2017, pp. 186-195.

• Interactive Mechanism Modeling from Multi-view Images, Mingliang Xu, Mingyuan Li, Weiwei Xu, Zhigang Deng, Yin Yang, and Kun Zhou, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2016 Papers, 35(6), Nov 2016, article 236, pages 236:1 - 236:13.

• A Robust Scheme for Feature-Preserving Mesh Denoising, Xuequan Lu, Zhigang Deng, and Wenzi Chen, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 22(3), March 2016, pp. 1181-1194.

• Structured Volume Decomposition via Generalized Sweeping, Xifeng Gao, Tobias Martin, Sai Deng, Elaine Cohen, Zhigang Deng, and Guoning Chen, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 22(7), July 2016, pp. 1899-1911.

• Development of A Teen-Focused Exergame, Deborah Thompson, Dora Cantu, Madhur Rajendran, Mayur Rajendran, Tanay Bhargava, Yuting Zhang, Cheng Chen, Yan Liu, and Zhigang Deng, Games for Health Journal (GFH), 5(5), Oct 2016, pp. 342-356.
[Editor's Choice High Impact Paper]

• Hexahedral Mesh Re-parameterization from Aligned Base Domains, Xifeng Gao, Zhigang Deng, and Guoning Chen, ACM Transactions on Graphics ( TOG), Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH 2015 Papers, 34(4), July 2015, pp. 142: 1- 142:10.

• A Practical Model for Live Speech Driven Lip-Sync, Li Wei and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A), 35(2), March/April 2015, pp. 50-58.

• GPU-based Polygonization and Optimization for Implicit Surfaces, Junjie Chen, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, The Visual Computer (TVC), 31(2), Feb 2015, pp. 119-130.

• Collective Crowd Formation Transform with Mutual Information based Runtime Feedback, Mingliang Xu, Yunpeng Wu, Yangdong Ye, Illes Farkas, Hao Jiang, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 34(1), 2015, pp. 60-73.

• Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction for Mixed Traffic Simulation,Qianwen Chao, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), Special Issue for CASA'15, 26(3-4), 2015, pp. 405-412.

• An Efficient Lane Model for Complex Traffic Simulation, Tianlu Mao, Hua Wang, Zhigang Deng, and Zhaoqi Wang, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), Special Issue for CASA'15, 26(3-4), 2015, pp. 397-403 .

• Spectral Animation Compression,Yang Liu, Chao Wang, Xiaohu Guo, Zichun Zhong, Binh H. Le, and Zhigang Deng, Journal of Computer Science and Technology (JCST), Special Issue for CVM'15, 30(3), May 2015, pp. 540-552, Springer press.

• Robust and Accurate Skeletal Rigging from Mesh Sequences, Binh H. Le and Zhigang Deng, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH 2014 Papers, 33(4), July 2014, pp. 84:1 - 84:10.

• Crowd Simulation and Its Applications: Recent Advances, Mingliang Xu, Hao Jiang, Xiaogang Jin, and Zhigang Deng, Journal of Computer Science and Technology (JCST), Springer Press, 29(5), September 2014, pp. 740-750.
[invited article]

• Inherent Noise-Aware Insect Swarm Simulation, Xinjie Wang, Xiaogang Jin, Zhigang Deng, and Linling Zhou, Computer Graphics Forum (CGF), 33(6), September 2014, pp. 51-62.
[The source code of this work can be found in this LINK.]

• GPU-Accelerated Interactive Visualization and Planning of Neurosurgical Interventions, Mario Rincon, Nikhil V. Navkar, Nikos V. Tsekos, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A), January/Feb 2014, pp. 14-23.
[Featured Cover Article]

• Flock Morphing Animation, Xinjie Wang, Linling Zhou, Zhigang Deng, and Xiaogang Jin, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), CASA 2014 special issue, 25(3-4), May-August 2014, pp. 353-362.

• A Personality Model for Animating Heterogeneous Traffic Behaviors, Xuequan Lu, Mingliang Xu, Wenzhi Chen, Zonghui Wang, and Zhigang Deng, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), CASA 2014 special issue, 25(3-4), May-August 2014, pp. 363-373.

• AA-FVDM: An Accident-Avoidance Full Velocity Difference Model for Animating Realistic Street-Level Traffic in Rural Scenes, Xuequan Lu, Wenzhi Chen, Mingliang Xu, Zonghui Wang, Zhigang Deng, and Yangdong Ye, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (CAVW), 25(1), 2014, pp. 85-97.

• Less-talk-is-more-play: An Experimental Study on Multiplayer Mobile Games for Casual Gamers, Chrysanthi C. Ntina, Xiaohan Ma, and Zhigang Deng, ACM Computer In Entertainment (CIE), Dec 2014, 11(3), Article 3, 16 pages.

• Two-layer Sparse Compression of Dense Weight Blend Skinning, Binh H. Le and Zhigang Deng, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH 2013 Papers, 32(4), July 2013, 124:1-124:10,

• Marker Optimization for Facial Motion Acquisition and Deformation, Binh H. Le, Mingyang Zhu, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 19(11), Nov 2013, pp. 1859-1871. [presented on ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2013]

• Generating Freestyle Group Formation in Agent-based Crowd Simulation, Qin Gu, and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A), 33(1), Jan/Feb 2013, pp. 14-25.
[Featured Cover Article]

• A Text-Driven Conversational Avatar Interface for Instant Messaging on Mobile Devices, Mario Rincon and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems (THMS), 43(3), May 2013, pp. 328-332.

• Characterizing the Performance and Power Consumption of 3D Mobile Games, Xiaohan Ma, Zhigang Deng, Mian Dong, and Lin Zhong, IEEE Computer, 46(4), April 2013, pp. 72-78.

• A Framework for Integrating real-time MRI with Robot Control: Application to Simulated Transapical Cardiac Interventions, Nikhil Navkar, Zhigang Deng, Dipan J. Shah, and Nikos V. Tsekos, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME), (special issue on surgical robotics), April 2013, 60(4), pp. 1023-1033.

• Smooth Skinning Decomposition with Rigid Bones, Binh H. Le and Zhigang Deng, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2012 Papers, 31(6), Article 199, Nov 2012, 199:1-199:10.
[The source code of our SSDR work can be found in this PROJECT PAGE.]
[Incorporated into mainstream Graphics/Animation packages including Maya, and Houdini, and used in many game studios including EA.]

• Live Speech Driven Head-and-Eye Motion Generators, Binh H. Le, Xiaohan Ma and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 18(11), Nov 2012, pp. 1902-1914.

• A Surface-based 3D Dendritic Spine Detection Approach from Confocal Microscopy Images, Qing Li and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing (TIP), March 2012, 21(3), pp. 1223-1230.
[The source code of this work can be found in this LINK.]

• A Statistical Quality Model for Data-Driven Speech Animation, Xiaohan Ma and Zhigang Deng, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), 18(11), Nov 2012, pp. 1915-1927.

• A Robust High Capacity Affine-Transformation-Invariant Scheme for Watermarking 3D Geometric Models, Xifeng Gao, Caiming Zhang, Yan Huang, and Zhigang Deng, ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (TOMM), volume 8, number 2S, Article 34, pages 1-21, September 2012.

• A Global Spatial Similarity Optimization Scheme to Track Large Numbers of Dendritic Spines in Time-lapse Confocal Microscopy, Qing Li, Zhigang Deng, Yong Zhang, Xiaobo Zhou, U. Valentin Nagerl, and Stephen TC Wong, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging (TMI), 30(3), March 2011, pp. 632-641.

• Enhancing Gaze Prediction in Multi-Party Conversations via Speaker-Aware Multimodal Adaptation, Meng-Chen Lee, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of the 27th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI) 2025, Oct 13 -17, 2025, Canberra, Australia, ACM Press. [oral]

• Learning Multimodal Motion Cues for Online End-of-Turn Prediction in Multi-Party Dialogue, Meng-Chen Lee, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of the 27th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI) 2025, Oct 13 -17, 2025, Canberra, Australia, ACM Press.

• CTGaze: A Dataset and Baselines for Visual Attention Modeling in CT Diagnostics, Trong-Thang Pham, Akash Awasthi, Saba Khan, Tien-Phat Nguyen, Ngoc Son Nguyen, Cuong Tran Van, Zhigang Deng, Carol C. Wu, Hien Van Nguyen, Ngan Hoang Le, Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) 2025, Oct 19 - 23th, 2025, Honolulu, Hawaii, pp. 12732 - 12743. [spotlight]

• Interpreting Radiologist's Intention from Eye Movements in Chest X-ray Diagnosis, Trong-Thang Pham, Anh Nguyen, Zhigang Deng, Carol C. Wu, Hien Van Nguyen, Ngan Le, Proceedings of the 33rd ACM International Conference on Multimedia (MM) 2025,October 27-31, 2025, Dublin, Ireland, ACM Press.
[Outstanding Paper Award] (in Content Theme)

• MAARTA: Multi-Agentic Radiology Teaching Assistant, Akash Awasthi, Brandon Chung, Anh Mai Vu, Ngan Hoang Le, Zhigang Deng, Carol C. Wu, Hien Van Nguyen, Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) 2025, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, September 23-27, 2025.

• GazeSearch: Radiology Findings Search Benchmark, Trong-Thang Phama, Tien-Phat Nguyen, Yuki Ikebe, Akash Awasthi, Zhigang Deng, Carol Wu, Hien Nguyen, and Ngan Le, Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV) 2025, Tucson, Arizona, Feb 28 - March 4, 2025. [oral (2.6%)]

• Dense Crowd Motion Prediction through Density and Trend Maps, Tingting Wang, Qiang Fu, Minggang Wang, Huikun Bi, Qixin Deng, and Zhigang Deng, Proceedings of Pacific Graphics 2024 (PG), Huangshan, China, Oct 13-16, 2024.

• Online Multimodal End-of-turn Prediction for Three-party Conversations, Meng-Chen Lee, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI) 2024, Costa Rica, Nov 4-8, 2024, pages 57-65. [oral]
[Best Paper Runner-up Award]

• Toward Socially-Aware Interactive Virtual Agents: Generating Multi-Modal Agent Behaviors, Bhasura S. Gunawardhana, Yunxiang Zhang, Qi Sun, and Zhigang Deng, Proceedings of 23rd IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality 2024 (ISMAR), Seattle, USA, Oct 21- 25, 2024.
[The source code and dataset of this work can be found in this PROJECT PAGE.]

• A Computational Study on Sentence-based Next Speaker Prediction in Multiparty Conversations, Meng-Chen Lee, Wu Angela Li, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA) 2024, September 16 -19, 2024, Glasgow, UK.

• Real-time Wing Deformation Simulations for Flying Insects, Qiang Chen, Zhigang Deng, Feng Li, Yuming Fang, Tingsong Lu, Yang Tong, Yifan Zuo, Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference Papers, Article 35, pages 35:1 - 35:11, Denver, CO, July 28 - August 1, 2024.

• Double Doodles: Sketching Animation in Immersive Environment with 3+6 DOFs Motion Gestures, Ruizhao Chen, Ye Pan, Zhigang Deng, Lili Wang, and Lizhuang Ma, Proceeding of the 31th ACM International Conference on Multimedia (MM) 2023, Oct 29 - Nov 3, 2023, Ottawa, Canada, pp. 6998-7006.

• Multimodal Turn Prediction and Analysis for Multiparty Conversations, Meng-Chen Lee, Mai Trinh, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of 25th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI) 2023, Paris, France, Oct 9-13, 2023, pp. 436 - 444.

• Acquisition and Remote Transfer of Operative Field View During Open Surgery, Malek Anabtawi, Jhasketan Padhan, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Zhigang Deng, Elias Yaacoub, Amr Mohammed, Nikhil V Navkar, Proceeding of IEEE 5th Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability (ECBIOS) 2023, Tainan, Taiwan, June 2023, pp. 119-122.

• Telementoring System Assessment Integrated with Laparoscopic Surgical Simulators, Dehlela Shabir, Sarra Kharbech, Jhasketan Padhan, Elias Yaacoub, Amr Mohammed, Zhigang Deng, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Panagiotis Tsiamyrtzis, Nikhil V Navkar, Proceeding of IEEE 5th Eurasia Conference on Biomedical Engineering, Healthcare and Sustainability (ECBIOS) 2023, Tainan, Taiwan, June 2023, pp. 200-203.

• Tele-Mentoring Using Augmented Reality: A Feasibility Study to Assess Teaching of Laparoscopic Suturing Skills, Dehlela Shabir, Shidin Balakrishnan, Jhasketan Padhan, Julien Abinahed, Elias Yaacoub, Amr Mohammed, Zhigang Deng, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Panagiotis Tsiamyrtzis and Nikhil Navkar, Proceeding of IEEE International Symposium on Computer-based Medical Systems (CBMS) 2023, June 22 - 24, 2023, L'Aquila, Italy.
[IEEE TCCLS Best Paper Award]

• Evaluating a Remote Tele-mentoring Gameplay Setup for Teaching Laparoscopic Suturing Skills, Dehlela Shabir, Shidin Balakrishnan, Jhasketan Padhan, Elias Yaacoub, Amr Mohammed, Zhigang Deng, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Panagiotis Tsiamyrtzis and Nikhil Navkar, Proceeding of IEEE 11th International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health 2023 (SeGAH), Athens, Greece, August 28 - 30, 2023.

• End-to-End 3D Face Reconstruction with Expressions and Specular Albedos From Single In-the-wild Images, Qixin Deng, Binh Huy Le, Aobo Jin, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM International Conference on Multimedia (MM) 2022, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2022, pages 4694 - 4703.

• A Practical AR-based Surgical Navigation System Using Optical See-through Head Mounted Display, May Trinh, Nikhil V. Navkar, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE) 2022, November 2022, Taichung, Taiwan.

• Benchmarking Network Performance of Augmented Reality Based Surgical Telementoring Systems, Dehlela Shabir, Malik Anbatawi, Nihal Abdurahiman, May Trinh, Jhasketan Padhan, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Julien Abinahed, Zhigang Deng, Elias Yaacoub, Amr Mohammed, and Nikhil V. Navkar, Proceeding of IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE) 2022, November 2022, Taichung, Taiwan.

• Dynamic Guidance Virtual Fixtures for Guiding Robotic Interventions: Intraoperative MRI-guided Transapical Cardiac Intervention Paradigm, Jhasketan Padhan, Nikolaos Tsekos, Abdulla Al-Ansari, Julien Abinahed, Zhigang Deng, and Nikhil V. Navkar, Proceeding of IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE) 2022, November 2022, Taichung, Taiwan.

• S2M-Net: Speech Driven Three-party Conversational Motion Synthesis Networks, Aobo Jin, Qixin Deng, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction, and Games (MIG) 2022, Guanajuato, Mexico, Nov 3-5, 2022, ACM Press, Article 2, pages 2:1 - 2:10.

• A Practical Method for Butterfly Motion Capture, Qiang Chen, Tingsong Lu,Yang Tong,Yuming Fang, and Zhigng Deng, Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction, and Games (MIG) 2022, Guanajuato, Mexico, Nov 3-5, 2022, ACM Press, Article 8, pages 8:1 - 8:9.
[The dataset of this work can be found in this PROJECT PAGE.]

• A Comparative Study on Single-handed Keyboards on Large-screen Mobile Devices, Kunpeng Zhang, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI) 2022, Rome, Italy, June 2022, Article 4, pages 4:1 - 4:9, ACM Press.

• Preliminary Design and Evaluation of an Interfacing Mechanism for Maneuvering Virtual Minimally Invasive Surgical Instruments, Mai Trinh, Jhasketan Padhan, Nikhil V. Navkar, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of IEEE International Symposium on Medical Robotics (ISMR) 2022, Atlanta, GA, April 13-15, 2022, pages 1 - 7.

• How can I see My Future? FvTraj: Using First-person View for Pedestrian Trajectory Prediction, Huikun Bi, Ruisi Zhang, Tianlu Mao, Zhigang Deng, and Zhaoqi Wang, Proc. of European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) 2020, August 2020, pp. 576-593.

• Contour-based 3D Modeling through Joint Embedding of Shapes and Contours, Aobo Jin, Qiang Fu, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games (I3D) 2020, San Francisco, CA, May 2020, Article 9, pages 9:1 - 9:10.

• Real-time Face Video Swapping From A Single Portrait, Luming Ma, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games (I3D) 2020, San Francisco, CA, May 2020, Article 3, pages 3:1 - 3:10.

• Joint Prediction for Kinematic Trajectories in Vehicle-Pedestrian-Mixed Scenes, Huikun Bi, Zhong Fang, Tianlu Mao, Zhaoqi Wang, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) 2019, Seoul, Korea, Oct 2019, pages 10383 - 10392.

• 3D Mesh Animation Compression based on Adaptive Spatio-temporal Segmentation, Guoliang Luo, Zhigang Deng, Wei Zeng, Xin Zhao, Xiaogang Jin, Hyewon Seo, and Wenqiang Xie, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games (I3D) 2019, Montreal, Canada, May 2019, article 10, pages 10:1-10:10.

• Real-Time Hierarchical Facial Performance Capture, Luming Ma, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games (I3D) 2019, Montreal, Canada, May 2019, article 11, pages 11:1 - 11:10.
[Featured in I3D 2019 Technical Papers Video Trailer]

• Single RGB-D Fitting: Total Human Modeling with a RGB-D Shot, Xianyong Fang, Jikui Yang, Jie Rao, Linbo Wang, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2019, Sydney, Australia, Nov 2019, Article 24, pages 24:1 - 24:11.
[The source code of this work can be found in this PROJECT PAGE.]

• ODE-driven Sketch-based Organic Modeling, Ouwen Lee, Zhigang Deng, Shaojun Bian, Ismail Kazmi, Xiaogang Jin, Lihua You, and Jian Jun Zhang, Proc. of Computer Graphics International (CGI) 2019, Calgary, Canada, June 2019, pp. 453-460.

• An Emotion Evolution based Model for Group Behavior Simulation, Hao Jiang, Zhigang Deng, Mingliang Xu, Xiangjun He, Tianlu Mao, and Zhaoqi Wang, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games 2018 (I3D), May 2018, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, pp. 10:1-10:6.

• Unsupervised Articulated Skeleton Learning from Point Set Sequences Captured by a Single Depth Camera, Xuequan Lu, Honghua Chen, Sai-Kit Yeung, Zhigang Deng, Wenzi Chen, Proc. of Thirty-Second AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence 2018 (AAAI), Feb 2018, New Orleans, LA, pp. 7226-7234.

• Blur Measurement for Partially Blurred Images with Saliency Constrained Global Refinement, Xianyong Fang, Qingqing Guo, Cheng Ding, Linbo Wang, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of Pacific Rim Conference on Multimedia (PCM) 2018 , September 2018, Hefei, China, pp. 338-349.

• A Multifaceted Study on Eye Contact based Speaker Identification in Three-party Conversations, Yu Ding, Yuting Zhang, Meihua Xiao, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2017 (CHI), May 2017, Denver, CO, pp. 3011-3021.

• Interactive Cage Generation for Mesh Deformation, Binh H. Le, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games 2017 (I3D), Feb 2017, San Francisco, CA, article 3, 9 pages, pages 3:1-3:9.
[The source code of this work can be found in this PROJECT PAGE.]

• Perceptual Enhancement of Emotional Mocap Head Motion: An Experimental Study, Yu Ding, Lei Shi, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of International Conference on Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction 2017 (ACII), Oct 2017, San Antonio, TX, pp. 242-247.

• A Data-driven Model for Lane-changing in Traffic Simulation, Huikun Bi, Tianlu Mao, Zhaoqi Wang, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation 2016 (SCA), July 2016, Zurich, Switzerland, pp. 149-158.

• A Multidisciplinary, Multifaceted Approach to Improve the Computer Science Based Game Design Education: Methodology and Assessment,Chang H. Yun, Hesam Panahi, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) 2016, Memphis, Tennessee, March 2016, pp. 570-575.

• An Evaluation of the Quality of Hexahedral Meshes via Modal Analysis, Xifeng Gao, Jin Huang, Siwang Li, Zhigang Deng, and Guoning Chen, Proceeding of the CASA 2014 Workshop on Structured Meshing: Theory, Applications, and Evaluation, co-located with CASA 2014 conference, Houston, TX, May 26th, 2014.

• Implementation of a Force-Feedback Interface for Fixed-Access Point Interventions with real time MRI guidance, Nick von Sternberg, Atilla Kilicarslan, Nikhil Navkar, Zhigang Deng, Karolos Grigoriadis, and Nikos V. Tsekos, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2013, Karlsruhe, Germany, May 2013, pp. 4869-4874.

• Visual and Force-Feedback Guidance for Robot-Assisted Interventions in the Beating Heart with Real-Time MRI, Nikhil V. Navkar, Zhigang Deng, Dipan J. Shah, Kostas Bekris, and Nikolaos V. Tsekos, Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2012, St Paul, MN, May 14-18, 2012, pp. 689-694.
[Best Medical Robotics Paper Runner-up Award]

• Quaternion Space Sparse Decomposition for Motion Compression and Retrieval, Mingyang Zhu, Huaijiang Sun, and Zhigang Deng, Proceeding of ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) 2012, Lausanne, Switzerland, July 2012, pp. 183-192.

• Intraoperative Registration of Preoperative 4D Cardiac Anatomy with real-time MR images, Xifeng Gao, Nikhil V. Navkar, Dipan J. Shah, Nikos V. Tsekos, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of IEEE International Conference on BioInformatics and BioEngineering (BIBE) 2012, Larnaca, Cyprus, Nov 11-13, 2012, pp. 583-588.

• Generation of 4D Access Corridors from Real-Time Multislice MRI for Guiding Transapical Aortic Valvuloplasties, Nikhil Navkar, Erol Yeniaras, Dipan J. Shah, Nikolaos V. Tsekos, and Zhigang Deng. Proc. of International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) 2011, Toronto, Canada, Sep 2011, pp. 251-258.

• Robot-Assisted Mechanical Scanning and Co-Registration of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Light-Induced Flurescence, Ahmet E. Sonmez, William M. Spees, Alpay Ozcan, Zhigang Deng, Andrew Webb, and Nikolaos V. Tsekos, Proc. of Fourth IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob) 2012, Rome, Italy, June 24-28, 2012, pp. 775-780.
[Best Student Paper Award Finalist]

• Magnetic Resonance Based Control of A Robotic Manipulator for Interventions in the Beating Heart, Erol yeniaras, Johann Lamaury, Nikhil Navkar, Dipan J. Shah, Karen Chin, Zhigang Deng, Nikolaos Tsekos, Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2011, Shanghai, China, May 2011, pp. 6270-6275.

• Perceptual Analysis of Talking Avatar Head Movements: A Quantitative Perspective, Xiaohan Ma, Binh H. Le, and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2011 (CHI), Vancouver, Canada, May 2011, pp. 2699-2702.

• MR-based Real Time Path Planning for Cardiac Operations with Transapical Access, Erol Yeniaras, Nikhil Navkar, Ahmet Sonmez, Dipan J. Shah, Zhigang Deng, and Nikolaos V. Tsekos. Proc. of International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) 2011, Toronto, Canada, Sep 2011, pp. 25-32.

• Formation Sketching: An Approach to Stylize Groups in Crowd Simulation, Qin Gu and Zhigang Deng, Proc. of Graphics Interface (GI) 2011 , St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, May 2011, pp. 1-8.

• An approach for robot-assisted biosensing: Demonstration with MRI-guided MR spectroscopy, Ahmet E Sonmez, Yousef Hedayati, Andrew G Webb, Zhigang Deng, and Nikolaos V Tsekos. Proc. of 10th IEEE International Workshop on Biomedical Engineering (BIOENG) 2011, Kos, Greece, Oct 2011, pp. 1-4.

• Extracting Geometric Features of Aortic-Valve Annulus Motion from Dynamic Cardiac MRI for Guiding Interventions, Nikhil Navkar, Erol Yeniaras, Dipan J. Shah, Nikolaos V. Tsekos, and Zhigang Deng, Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) 2011, Chicago, IL, March 2011, pp. 1302-1305.

• A Novel Virtual Reality Environment for Preoperative Planning and Simulation of Image Guided Intracardiac Surgeries with Robotic Manipulators, Erol Yeniaras, Zhigang Deng, Mushabbar A. Syed, Mark Davies, and Nikolaos V.Tsekos, in Proc. of Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 2011 Conference (MMVR), Long Beach, CA, Feb 2011, pp. 716-722.

• Comparison of Reaching Kinematics during Mirror and Parallel Robotic Movements, Zahra Kadivar, Cynthia Sung, Zachary Thompson, Marcia O'Malley, Michael Liebschner, and Zhigang Deng, in Proc. of Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 2011 Conference(MMVR), Long Beach, CA, Feb 2011, pp. 247-253.

• Perceiving Motion Transitions in Pedestrian Crowds, Qin Gu, Chang Yun, and Zhigang Deng, in Proc. of ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST) 2010, (short paper), Hong Kong, Dec 2010, pp. 199-202.

• Crafting 3D Faces Using Free Form Portrait Sketching and Plausible Texture Inference, Tanasai Sucontphunt, Borom Tunwattanapong, Zhigang Deng, and Ulrich Neumann, in Proc. of Graphics Interface (GI) 2010, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, May-June 2010, pp. 209-216.

• Visualization and Planning of Neurosurgical Interventions with Straight Access, Nikhil Navkar, Nikolaos Tsekos, Jason Stafford, Jeffery Weinberg, and Zhigang Deng, in Proc. of the 1st International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Intervention (IPCAI) 2010, Geneva, Switzerland, June 2010, pp. 1-11.

• Towards A New Cyber-Physical System for MRI-Guided and Robot-Assisted Cardiac Procedures, Eerol Yeniaras, J. Lamaury, Zhigang Deng, and Nikolaos V. Tsekos, in Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Information Technology and Applications in Biomedicine (ITAB) 2010, Corfu, Greece, Nov 2010, pp. 1-5.

• PADS: Enhancing Gaming Experience Using Profile-Based Adaptive Difficulty System, Chang Yun, Philip Trevino, William Holtkamp, and Zhigang Deng, in Proc. of ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Video Games (SandBox) 2010, Los Angeles, CA, July 2010, pp. 31-36.
[Highlighted in SIGGRAPH 2010 News Letter (June 2010 issue)]

• Style Learning and Transferring for Facial Animation Editing, Xiaohan Ma, Binh H. Le, Zhigang Deng. in Proc. ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) 2009, New Orleans, LA, August 2009, pp. 114-123.

• Intermittency of Slow Arm Movements Increases in Distal Direction, Ozkan Celik, Qin Gu, Zhigang Deng, Marcia O'Malley, in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2009, St Louis, MO, Oct 2009, pp. 4499-4504.

• An Interactive Geometric Technique for Upper and Lower Teeth Segmentation, Binh H. Le, Zhigang Deng, James Xia, Yu-Bing Chang, Xiaobo Zhou, in Proc. International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) 2009, London, UK, Oct 2009, pp. 968-975.

• Statistical Power Consumption Analysis and Modeling for GPU-based Computing, Xiaohan Ma, Mian Dong, Lin Zhong, Zhigang Deng, in Proc. ACM SOSP Workshop on Power Aware Computing and Systems (HotPower) 2009, Big Sky, MT, October 2009.

• Skinning: Real-time Shape Deformation, Alec Jacobson, Zhigang Deng, Ladislav Kavan, and John P. Lewis, ACM SIGGRAPH 2014 Course, Vancouver, BC, Canada, August 2014, (95 pages).

• Practice and Theory of Blendshape Facial Models, J.P. Lewis, Ken Anjyo, Taehyun Rhee, Mengjie Zhang, Fred Pighin, and Zhigang Deng, Proceedings of Eurographics State of The Art Papers (EG STAR) 2014, pp. 199-218, (20 pages).

• Real-time Skinning and Deformation, Daniel Thalmann, Zhigang Deng, and Binh Huy Le, CASA 2024 Conference Course, Houston, Texas, May 2014.

• One-shot Learning for Human Action Recognition, Hao Jiang, Zhigang Deng, Sijia Wang, Chang Gao, Chengyi Wei and Zhaoqi Wang, ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games 2018, Research Poster, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 2018.

• Aperture Ratio Influences Action Boundary Perception Accuracy Performance, C. Connaboy, C.D. Johnson, A.D. LaGoy, G-J. Pepping, R.J. Simpson, Z. Deng, L. Ma(s), J. Bower, C.A. Alfano, NASA 2018 Human Research Program (HRP) Meeting, Conference Abstract, Galveston, TX, Jan 2018.

• Sleep Deprivation May Influence Overall Performance in An Affordance-based Task, A.M. Sinnott, C. Connaboy, A.D. LaGoy, G-J Pepping, R.J. Simpson, Z. Deng, L. Ma(s), J.L. Bower, C.A. Alfano, NASA 2018 Human Research Program (HRP) Meeting, Conference Abstract, Galveston, TX, Jan 2018.

• Cost-based Workload Balancing for Ray Tracing on Multi-GPU Systems, Mario Rincon* and Zhigang Deng, ACM SIGGRAPH 2013 Research Poster, Anaheim, CA, July 2013.

• 3D Human Face Identity Transfer Using Deformation Gradient, Tanasai Sucontphunt, Zhigang Deng, and Ulrich Neumann, ACM SIGGRAPH 2010 Research Poster, Los Angeles, CA, July 2010.

• A Method for Planning Interventions in the Brain with Straight Access Paths, Nikhil Navkar, Nikolaos V. Tsekos, Jason Stafford, Jeffrey Weinberg, and Zhigang Deng. Conference Abstract 7162, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) 2010 Annual Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden, 2010.

• An Approach for MRI based Pre-operative Planning of Cardiac Interventions via Trans-apical Access, Erol Yeniaras, Nikhil Navkar, Zhigang Deng, Mushabbar A. Syed, and Nikolaos V. Tsekos. Conference Abstract 4422, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) 2010 Annual Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden, 2010.

• Movement Intermittency and Variability in Human Arm Movements, Ozkan Celik, Qin Gu, Zhigang Deng, Marcia O'Malley, Conference Abstracts, 2009 RSS Hand Worshop: Understanding the Human Hand for Advancing Robotic Manipulation, co-located with Robotics: Sciences and Systems (RSS), Seattle, WA, June 2009.

• Coregistration and Visualization of Regional Perfusion from First-Pass Multislice Sets based on Independent Components Analysis, A. Sonmez, J. Milles, Z. Deng, N. V. Tsekos. Conference Abstracts, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) 2009 Annual Meeting, Honolulu, USA, April 2009.

• A Methodology for Mapping Mental Spaces of Game Gentres, JP Lewis, P. Fox, Z. Deng, Poster, SandBox: ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on Video Games 2006, Boston, MA, July 2006.

• Data-Driven Facial Animation Synthesis by Learning From Facial Motion Capture Data, Zhigang Deng. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Southern California, May 2006.

• Design of 2D Vector Animation Algorithms for Hypermedia Authoring Systems, Zhigang Deng. Master Thesis, Peking University, China, June 2000.

Southern Methodist University, TX, USA.

ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction (ICMI) 2024, Costa Rica.

IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 2024, Seattle, WA, (online).

ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Conference, Denver, CO.

Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang, China.

Boston College, Boston, MA.

University of California, Riverside, CA.

China VR Conference 2022, Kunming, China, (online)

IEEE AIVR 2020 Conference, Japan, (online)

University of Houston, USA, (online)

Peking University, China, (online)

AAAI 2018 Conference, New Orleans, LA

National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok, Thailand

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing, China

Nanchang University, Jiangxi, China

ACM SIGGRAPH Sym. on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games, San Francisco, CA

East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, China

Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, China

Hong Kong University, Hong Kong

University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL

East China Jiaotong University, China

Zhengzhou University, China

Florida International University, FL.

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

ACM SIGGRAPH 2014, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, China.

Zhejiang University, China.

Department of ECE, University of Houston, TX.

Rutgers University, NJ.

Zhengzhou University, China.

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.

University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX.

University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.

Northwestern Polytechnic University, Xi'an, China.

Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

Qualcomm Research, San Diego, CA.

Washington University, St Louis, MO.

Banff 2011 International Workshop on "Geometry for Anatomy", Alberta, Canada.

CHI 2011 Conference, Vancouver, Canada.

SHARP Research Lab of America, Camas, WA.

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR.

Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.

IBM Alameden Research Center, San Jose, CA.

Nokia Research Center, Palo Alto, CA.

University of California, Irvine, CA.

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

Shandong University, China.

Zhejiang University, China.

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.

IEEE Virtual Reality Conference. Lafayette, LA.

ACM SIGGRAPH Symp. on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games, Boston, MA.

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

ACM SIGGRAPH/EG Symposium on Computer Animation, Dublin, Ireland.

Graphics Interface Conference, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Rice University, Houston, TX.

Academy for Science & Health Professions, Houston, TX.

Eurographics 2007 Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.

Zhejiang University. Hangzhou, China.

Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China.

Peking University, Beijing, China.

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX.

Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY.

Intelligent Virtual Agents Conference, Marina Del Rey, CA.

University of Houston, Houston, TX.

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO.

ACM SIGGRAPH Symp. on Interactive 3D Graphics, Redwood, CA.

Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

University of Denver, Denver, CO.

University of North Texas, Denton, TX.

Computer Graphics International Conference, Stony Brook, NY.

First Annual USC Graphics Symp, University of Southern California.

Annual IMSC Student Conference, University of Southern California.

IMSC Lecture Series, University of Southern California.

User Interface Technology Symp, IBM Watson Research Center, NY.

ACM SIGGRAPH 2003, San Diego, CA.

Walt-Disney Feature Animation, Burbank, CA.

Up to 2025, I have received a total of 28 grants and contracts as the PI or co-PI, with the total amount >$8.9M, including 5 NSF, 2 NIH, 1 NASA, 1 DoD, 1 NHARP, 3 QNRF, and various industry funding/contracts (from Google, Honda, Electronic Arts, Nokia, etc).

Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 5/2021 - 5/2025
Associate Editor, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds Journal (Wiley), 5/2013 - 12/2025
Guest Co-Editor, Computer & Graphics, special issue on MIG 2022, 2022
Associate Editor, Computer Graphics Forum, 4/2014 - 3/2018
Associate Editor, ACM Computer In Entertainment, 2008 - 2018
Guest co-Editor, Multimedia Tools and Applications (Springer), special issue on "Expressive Talking Avatar Synthesis and Animation", 2015
Guest co-Editor, Multimedia Tools and Applications (Springer), special issue on "Multimodal Joint Information Processing in Human-Machine Interaction", 2013
Associate Editor, International Journal of Image and Graphics, 2009 - 2014
Associate Editor, International Journal of Computer Games Technology, 2011 - 2012

Steering Committee Member, ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction and Games, 2021 - 2025.
Steering Committee Member, Computer Graphics Society, 2016 - 2019.
Steering Committee Member, ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation, 2015 - 2020.
Steering Committee Member, International Chinese Association of Human Computer Interaction, 2012 - 2014.

Program Co-Chair, Computer Graphics International (CGI) Conference 2024, Geneva, Switzerland.
Program Co-Chair, Pacific Graphics (PG) Conference 2023, Daejeon, Korea.
Program Co-Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction, and Games (MIG) 2022, Guanajuato, Mexico.
Program Co-Chair, International Conference on Virtual Reality and Visualization 2017, Zhengzhou, China.
General Chair, IEEE International Conference on Computer Science & Education 2017, Houston.
General Co-Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) 2015, Los Angeles.
Program Co-Chair (Computer Graphics Area), International Symposium on Visual Computing 2014, Las Vegas.
General Co-Chair, International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents (CASA) 2014, Houston.
General Chair, TexGraph Conference 2008, Houston, Texas.

ACM SIGGRAPH Conference
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia Conference
Eurographics Annual Conference
Pacific Graphics Annual Conference
CVPR: IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
SCA: ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation
IEEE VR: IEEE Virtual Reality Conference
ACM VRST: ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Tecnnology
ACM MIG: ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion, Interaction, and Games
CASA: International Conference on Computer Animation and Social Agents
CGI: Computer Graphics International Conference
etc.

ACM SIGGRAPH
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia
ACM Transaction on Graphics
Nature Machine Intelligence
ACM Transaction on Multimedia Computing Communications and Applications
ACM Computer In Entertainment
IEEE Transaction on Image Processing
IEEE Transaction on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI)
IEEE Transaction on Visualization and Computer Graphics
IEEE Transaction on Affective Computing
IEEE Transaction on Signal and Audio Processing (TSAP)
IEEE Transaction on Multimedia (TMM)
IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications
Eurographics
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
Computer Graphics Forum
Graphical Models
Computer & Graphics
Image and Vision Computing
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
The Visual Computer
Computer Aided Design
Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds
EURASIP Journal on Audio, Speech, and Music Processing
ACM Conference on Multimodal Interface (ICMI)
ACM Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)
ACM SIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Comuter Animation (SCA)
IEEE Virtual Reality Conference
IEEE Computer Animation and Social Agents
IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME)
Joint EuroHaptics Conference and Symposium on Haptic Interface for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems
European Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing (Euro-Par)
Pacific Graphics
Graphics Interface
International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA)
International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence (ICAT)
International Journal of Imaging Systems and Technology (IJIST)
Computer Graphics International (CGI)
APSIPA Annual Summit Conference

Invited Proposal Reviewers, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada, 2021
Invited Proposal Reviewer, Swiss National Science Foundation, 2019
Invited Reviewer, Qiu Shi Outstanding Young Scholar Award, 2018/2017
Invited Reviewer, Ignaz L. Lieben Award, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria, 2016
Invited Reviewer, Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Award, China, 2015
NSF Panelist/reviewer, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2011, 2010
Invited grant proposal reviewer, agency for Science, Research & Technology (A*STAR), Singapore, 2014
Invited grant proposal reviewer, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), 2007

Graduate Studies Committee, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, UH, 2016 -
Graduate Admission Committee, Computer Science Department, UH, 2016 -
Executive Committee, Computer Science Department, UH, 2016 -
Faculty Merit Review Committee, Computer Science Department, UH, 2016 -
Graduate Studies Committee (ex officio), Computer Science Department, UH, 2015 -
Web and Publicity Committee Member, Computer Science Department, UH, 2012 - 2014
Graduate Studies Committee Member, Computer Science Department, UH, 2009 - 2013
Industry Advisory Committee Member,Computer Science Department, UH, 2009 - 2011
Faculty Search Committee Member, Computer Science Department, UH, 2010 - 2012
Graduate Student Recruiting Committee Chair, Computer Science Department, UH, 2008 - 2009
Curriculum Committee Member, Computer Science Department, UH, 2006 - 2009
Executive Committee Member, Chinese Student and Scholar Association, USC, 2002-2004

Distinguished Member, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

[Statistics: 3 students won department "Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award", 8 students won department "Outstanding PhD Student Award", 1 student won department "Outstanding/Best Junior PhD Student Award", 1 student won "Best MS Student Award".]

· Meng-Chen Lee (University of Houston), Fall 2020 -
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2025
· Youyi Yang (University of Houston), Fall 2023 -
· Saba Khan (University of Houston), Fall 2023 -
· Qinran Yin (University of Houston), Spring 2025 -
· Jinxin Yu (University of Houston), Fall 2025 -

· Qiang Fu (University of Houston), 8/2018 - 8/2019
   ⇒ First employment: Assistant Professor, Beijing University of Post and Communications, China.

· Yu Ding (University of Houston), 3/2016 - 3/2018
   ⇒ First employment: Research Lead, NetEase, China.

· Qixin Deng (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in March 2023
   PhD Dissertation: "3D Facial Modeling with Geometric Wrinkles from Images"
   * Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award (UH CS Department), 2023
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2022
   ⇒ First employment: Byron K. Trippet Assistant Professor, Wabash College, USA.

· Aobo Jin (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in July 2021
   PhD Dissertation: "Object Oriented 3D Modeling from a Single View Sketch"
   ⇒ First employment: Assistant Professor, University of Houston at Victoria, USA.

· Luming Ma (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in April 2020
   PhD Dissertation: "Real Time Facial Performance Capture and Manipulation"
   * Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award (UH CS Department), 2020
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2019
   ⇒ First employment: Research Engineer, Meta Reality Lab, USA.

· Xifeng Gao (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in April 2016
   PhD Dissertation: "Towards High Quality Hexahedral Meshes: Generation, Optimization, and Evaluation"
   * Outstanding Junior PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2013
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2015
   * Outstanding PhD Dissertation Award (UH CS Department), 2016
   ⇒ First employment: PostDoc (New York University).
       Last known position: Principal Research Scientist (Tencent America).

· Binh H. Le (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in April 2014
   PhD Dissertation: "Example-based Rigging and Real-time Animation of Characters with Linear Skinning Models"
   * Friends of NSM Fellowship, 2013
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2013
   * VEF Fellowship (2008-2010)
   ⇒ First employment: PostDoc (Disney Research Pittsburgh).
       Last known position: Principal Research Scientist (AMD).

· Nikhil Navkar (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in Nov 2012
   PhD Dissertation: "Visual Force-Feedback Interfacing for Image-Guided Telemanipulated Robotic Surgical System"
   * Friends of NSM Fellowship, 2012
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2012
   * Runner-up of Best Medical Robotics Paper Award, ICRA 2012
   ⇒ First employment: Qatar Robotic Surgery Center, Doha, Qatar.
       Last known position: Senior Research Scientist (Hamad Medical Cooperation, Qatar)

· Xiaohan Ma (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in April 2012
   PhD Dissertation: "Perceptual Analysis and Modeling of Facial Animation"
   * Outstanding PhD Student Award (UH CS Department), 2012
   * PhD Student of the Year Award (UH CS Department), 2010
   ⇒ First employment: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), USA.

· Qing Li (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in May 2011
   PhD Dissertation: "Algorithms for Dendritic Spine Detection and Tracking in Time-Lapse Microscopy Neuron Images"
   * Excellence of PhD Studies Award (UH CS Department), 2011
   ⇒ First employment: Xignite, USA

· Qin Gu (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in May 2011
   PhD Dissertation: "Agent-based Approaches for Stylizing Motion Variations and Formations in Crowd Simulation"
   ⇒ First employment: Pixar Animation Studio, USA.
       Last known position: Senior Software Engineer, NVidia, USA.

· Chang Yun (University of Houston), PhD Dissertation defended in May 2009.
   PhD Dissertation: "Improving Gaming Experience Using Real-Time, Adaptive Game Difficulty Adjustments by Utilizing Physiological Feedback"
   ⇒ First employment: Instructional Assistant Professor, University of Houston, USA.

· Kunpeng Zhang (University of Houston), April 2022
   MSc Thesis: "An Internet-based Telepresence Robotic Avatar System for Real-time Mediated Interpersonal Communication."
   ⇒ First employment: BioTex, USA.

· Mayur Rajendran (University of Houston), April 2016
   MSc Thesis: "Academia Arcana: A Gamified and Game-based Review Tool."
   ⇒ First employment: Cerner, USA.

· Madhur Rajendran (University of Houston), April 2016
   MSc Thesis: "Nightmare Runner: A Personalized Avatar and Physical Activity Game."
   ⇒ First employment: Cerner, USA.

· Cheng Chen (University of Houston), April 2014.
   MSc Thesis: "Avatar Creation and Customization for Health Games."
   ⇒ First employment: Midnight Game Studio, USA.

· Xiao Cheng (University of Houston), November 2013.
   MSc Thesis: "GPU-accelerated Crowd Simulation with User-Guidance and Multi-level Uncertainty."
   ⇒ First employment: CGGVeritas, USA.

· Harsha Nyshadham (University of Houston), July 2013.
   MSc Thesis: "Visual Comparison Models for Transportation Data of the Great Britain."
   ⇒ First employment: Ford Motor, USA.

· Chrysanthi Chaleva Ntina (University of Houston), April 2013.
   MSc Thesis: "Stereo Calibration of Depth Sensors with 3D Correspondences and Smooth Interpolants."
   * Best MSc Thesis Student Award (UH CS Department), 2013.
   ⇒ First employment: Catalina Marketing, USA.

· Mario Rincon (University of Houston), Nov 2011.
   MSc Thesis: "Cost-based Workload Balancing for Ray Tracing on a Heterogeneous Platform."
   ⇒ First employment: Nokia, Germany.

· Michael R. Jahn (University of Houston), April 2011.
   MSc Thesis: "Real time Human Animation Control Using Tri-Axis Accelerometers"
   ⇒ First employment: TimeGate Game Studios, USA.

· Nikhil Navkar (University of Houston), Oct 2009.
   MSc Thesis: "Virtual Environment for Planning Surgical Incision with Straight Access"
   ⇒ First employment: Continue PhD study at UH.

· Qing Li (University of Houston), Nov 2008.
   MSc Thesis: "Facial Motion Capture Editing by Automated Orthogonal Blendshape Construction and Weight Propagation"
   ⇒ First employment: Continue PhD study at UH.

· Qin Gu (University of Houston), April 2008.
   MSc Thesis: "Compression of Human Motion Capture Data Using Motion Pattern Indexing Technology"
   ⇒ First employment: Continue PhD study at UH.

· Bhasura Gunawardhana (University of Houston), Summer 2024.
· Mai Trinh (University of Houston), August 2023.
· Yuting Zhang (University of Houston), Dec 2018.
   ⇒ First employment: Expedia Group, USA.

· Mingxuan Luo (University of Houston), May 2018.
   ⇒ First employment: Zhengzhou University, China.

· Tanay Bhargava (University of Houston), May 2015.
   ⇒ First employment: Amazon, USA.

Irec Tabios (University of Houston), 1/2018 - 12/2018
Duy Lai (University of Houston), Spring 17 - Fall 19
Irec Tabios (University of Houston), Spring 18 - Fall 19
Xin Zhou (University of Houston), Spring 16 - Summer 18.
Harold Owens (USMA/ARL Summer Intern), 6/15 -8/15.
Erinn Gentry (USMA/ARL Summer Intern), 6/15 -8/15.
Ashley Balkum (Rice University), NSF REU student, 05/15 - 7/15.
Richard Giliam (University of Houston), NSF REU student, 9/10-5/11.
Reuben Rodriguez (University of Houston-Downtown), AGEP undergrad student, summer/08.
Faculty Mentor of independent study program of the Clear Lake High School at Houston, 2009
Faculty Mentor for summer undergraduate research students of the NSF AGP program (Alliance for minority Graduate Education and the Professoriate), University of Houston, 2008
Graduate Student Mentor, Merit-based Undergraduate Research Program, USC, 2003-2005

Zhigang Deng Named ACM Distinguished Member. UH News, December 15th, 2021.

Deng Awarded Moores Professorship. UH Department of Computer Science News, September 21st, 2021.

Research from UH Computer Science: Out of the Lab and into Popular Use. UH NSM News, Jan 21st, 2020.

UH professor sees into the future of human-computer interaction. Daily Cougars, April 11st, 2017.

UH professor sees into the future of human-computer interaction. UWire.com, April 11st, 2017.

Quantifying Eye Contact During Conversations. UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics News, March 2nd, 2017.

UH Computer Graphics Research: New Method Automates Skeletal Design for Character Animation. UH Department of Computer Science News, July 7th, 2014.

NIH Grant Supports Design of Video Games to Promote Physical Activity in Youth. Breakthrough (NSM Newsletter for alumni and friends), Fall/Winter 2013.

Augmented reality turns animation into oil business tool. Fuelfix.com (a daily news service website for energy business).

NSM Faculty Honored at UH Evening of Faculty Excellence. UH NSM News (News of UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics).

Contest develops mobile prototype. The Daily Cougar Newspaper.

Medical Robotics to Improve Heart Surgery. Scentific Computing News.

Medical Robotics to Improve Heart Surgery. The University of Houston News.

Game Papers: A Convergence of Science and Art. SIGGRAPH 2010 Conference Newsletter.

Students Design Video Games to Aid in Recycling, Pollution Control. UH University News.

UH awarded $2.5 million for research. The Daily Cougars.

Research Nets $2.5 Million in Grants For UH Professors. University of Houston News.

Computer Science Students Among International Gaming Finalists. UH NSM Breakthrough.

New Class Lets Students Develop Video Games. UH NSM Breakthrough.

Open House Presents Computer Science Exciting High-Tech Projects. UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Communications.

Researchers Develop New Eye-Animation Method. NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) Research Achievement Showcase.

Eye-Motion Commotion. USC Engineer Magazine.