Kai Han

Kai Han is an Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong's School of Computing and Data Science, where he directs the Visual AI Lab. His research focuses on computer vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence with specific interests in open-world learning, 3D vision, generative AI, and foundation models. He aims to achieve principled visual understanding and build reliable AI systems that close the intelligence gap between machines and humans.

Dr. Han's research interests span multiple areas in visual AI, with particular emphasis on developing methods for open-world visual understanding. His work addresses fundamental challenges in category discovery, visual correspondence, 3D reconstruction, and generative modeling. He has made significant contributions to novel category discovery, open-set recognition, and visual correspondence problems, with his AutoNovel framework being particularly influential in the field. His current research explores the intersection of generative models and visual understanding, particularly focusing on how foundation models can be leveraged for comprehensive visual analysis.

His publication record demonstrates a clear evolution from traditional computer vision problems toward more challenging open-world scenarios and generative approaches. Early work focused on 3D reconstruction of transparent and mirror surfaces, while more recent publications explore category discovery, visual correspondence, and generative AI. The trend shows increasing focus on foundation models, large language model integration with vision systems, and creating more robust visual understanding systems that can handle real-world open-set scenarios.

• Best Paper Runner-Up Award at CVPR Workshop on Continual Learning in Computer Vision, 2022
• Outstanding Reviewer for ICCV 2021 (top 5%)
• Outstanding Reviewer for CVPR 2021
• Outstanding Reviewer for CVPR 2020
• Travel Award, ICLR 2020
• Doctoral Consortium Travel Grant, ICCV 2017

Dr. Han actively mentors PhD students and postdocs, with numerous students appearing as first authors on his publications. His lab has secured multiple funding opportunities including HKU-PS, HKPFS, PGS, HKU-BICI, and HKU-ASTRI scholarships. He serves as Area Chair for major conferences including CVPR 2026, ICLR 2026, and AAAI 2026, demonstrating his standing in the research community. His lab, the Visual AI Lab, focuses on creating robust visual understanding systems that can handle real-world scenarios beyond closed-set recognition.