Daichi Ito
Technical Research Artist
I’m a Technical Research Artist at Adobe Research since 2012. My work involves collaborating with computer scientists and artists, both inside and outside the company. I'm well-versed in using various 2D/3D professional apps and understanding different workflows in creative industries.

Lately, a big part of my job has been creating unique datasets for new ML/AI projects that we can't find anywhere else. I also love kicking off art related research projects and using Python or Javascript to build prototypes. It's always rewarding when those prototypes make it into our products. Moreover, creating concept art, caricatures, 3D art, and animations is an integral part of my role that I thoroughly enjoy.

Before joining Adobe, I worked at Zynga as a production artist. I graduated with a B.F.A. and M.A. in Art, Animation, and Illustration from San Jose State University.
Education
San Jose State University, Aug 2009 – May 2011.         Master of Arts
Major:    Art
Cumulative GPA:     3.909
Honors:    Research and Innovation Scholarship
San Jose State University, Jan 2005 – May 2008           Bachelor of Fine Arts
Major Art/Animation/Illustration
Cumulative GPA 3.761
Honors Magna Cum Laude

Work Experience
Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, California, May, 2012 – current
Technical Research Artist
designing and implementing procedural imaging tools (e.g. Flame Filter, Tree Filter in PS)
working closely with other researchers to provide them ideas, new workflows, and feedback

Zynga Inc., San Francisco, California, July 2011 – May, 2012
Technical artist/Production artist
concept art, Flash animation, 3D modeling, tools/scripts

Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, California, March 2009 – July 2009
Technical artist (intern)
designing and implementing procedural imaging tools for Adobe Flash CS5

Full Steam Marketing and Design, Salinas, California,
3D modeler (intern)

Tools/Works
Flame filter (Photoshop CC)
Tree filter (Photoshop CC)
Picture frame filter (Photoshop CC)
Comic Kit (Adobe Add-ons)
Deco tool scripts (Flash CS5)
Watercolor engine for Adobe Eazel (iPad)

Datasets
Skin Smoothing (Photoshop)
Makeup Transfer (Photoshop)
Photo Restoration (Photoshop)

Publications

S. DiVerdi, A. Krishnaswamy, R. Mech, D. Ito. “Painting with Polygons: A Procedural Watercolor Engine.” In Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, Vol. 19, No. 5, May, 2013.

S. DiVerdi, A. Krishnaswamy, R. Mech, D. Ito. “A Lightweight, Procedural, Vector Watercolor Paint Engine.” In the Symposium on Interactive 3D Graphics and Games, Mar. 9-11, 2012. Best Paper Award.

Patents
US Patent No. 2546861 “3D modeling by tracing 2D image UI”
US Patent No. 9939925  “Behind the Screen 3D drawing/modeling tool ”
US Patent No. 9495785 “Rendering Illustrations using a Two-Dimensional Rendering Engine”
US Patent No. 9361553 “Stronger construction for plastic based 3D printer with columns, trapezoids, and circle shaped strings”
US8676552B2 “Methods and apparatus for simulation of fluid motion using procedural shape growth”

Public Demos
Adobe Max Japan Sneaks 6 technology demos, Nov. 2023. Tokyo, Japan
Adobe Max Japan Sneaks 4 technology demos, Dec. 2019. Yokohama, Japan
Adobe Max Japan Sneaks 5 technology demos, Nov. 2018. Yokohama, Japan
Adobe Live Stream Demo, May. 2018, San Francisco, CA
Adobe Max Japan Sneaks 5 technology demos, Nov. 2017.  Yokohama, Japan
Wetbrush demo at Tech Museum of Innovation, May. 2017, San Jose, California
Adobe Max Japan Sneaks 3+2 technologies demo, Sep. 2016.  Tokyo, Japan