Generating Editable Head Avatars with 3D Gaussian GANs

Generating animatable and editable 3D head avatars is essential for various applications in computer vision and graphics. Traditional 3D-aware generative adversarial networks (GANs), often using implicit fields like Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF), achieve photorealistic and view-consistent 3D head synthesis. However, these methods face limitations in deformation flexibility and editability, hindering the creation of lifelike and easily modifiable 3D heads. We propose a novel approach that enhances the editability and animation control of 3D head avatars by incorporating 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) as an explicit 3D representation. This method enables easier illumination control and improved editability. Central to our approach is the Editable Gaussian Head (EG-Head) model, which combines a 3D Morphable Model (3DMM) with texture maps, allowing precise expression control and flexible texture editing for accurate animation while preserving identity. To capture complex non-facial geometries like hair, we use an auxiliary set of 3DGS and tri-plane features. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our approach delivers high-quality 3D-aware synthesis with state-of-the-art controllability. Our code and models are available at https://github.com/liguohao96/EGG3D.

3D$^2$-Actor: Learning Pose-Conditioned 3D-Aware Denoiser for Realistic Gaussian Avatar Modeling

Advancements in neural implicit representations and differentiable rendering have markedly improved the ability to learn animatable 3D avatars from sparse multi-view RGB videos. However, current methods that map observation space to canonical space often face challenges in capturing pose-dependent details and generalizing to novel poses. While diffusion models have demonstrated remarkable zero-shot capabilities in 2D image generation, their potential for creating animatable 3D avatars from 2D inputs remains underexplored. In this work, we introduce 3D$^2$-Actor, a novel approach featuring a pose-conditioned 3D-aware human modeling pipeline that integrates iterative 2D denoising and 3D rectifying steps. The 2D denoiser, guided by pose cues, generates detailed multi-view images that provide the rich feature set necessary for high-fidelity 3D reconstruction and pose rendering. Complementing this, our Gaussian-based 3D rectifier renders images with enhanced 3D consistency through a two-stage projection strategy and a novel local coordinate representation. Additionally, we propose an innovative sampling strategy to ensure smooth temporal continuity across frames in video synthesis. Our method effectively addresses the limitations of traditional numerical solutions in handling ill-posed mappings, producing realistic and animatable 3D human avatars. Experimental results demonstrate that 3D$^2$-Actor excels in high-fidelity avatar modeling and robustly generalizes to novel poses. Code is available at: https://github.com/silence-tang/GaussianActor.

AutoFPDesigner: Automated Flight Procedure Design Based on Multi-Agent Large Language Model

Current flight procedure design methods heavily rely on human-led design process, which is not only low auto-mation but also suffer from complex algorithm modelling and poor generalization. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an agent-driven flight procedure design method based on large language model, named Au-toFPDesigner, which utilizes multi-agent collaboration to complete procedure design. The method enables end-to-end automated design of performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures. In this process, the user input the design requirements in natural language, AutoFPDesigner models the flight procedure design by loading the design speci-fications and utilizing tool libraries complete the design. AutoFPDesigner allows users to oversee and seamlessly participate in the design process. Experimental results show that AutoFPDesigner ensures nearly 100% safety in the designed flight procedures and achieves 75% task completion rate, with good adaptability across different design tasks. AutoFPDesigner introduces a new paradigm for flight procedure design and represents a key step towards the automation of this process. Keywords: Flight Procedure Design; Large Language Model; Performance-Based Navigation (PBN); Multi Agent;

Affective Behavior Analysis using Task-adaptive and AU-assisted Graph Network

In this paper, we present our solution and experiment result for the Multi-Task Learning Challenge of the 7th Affective Behavior Analysis in-the-wild(ABAW7) Competition. This challenge consists of three tasks: action unit detection, facial expression recognition, and valance-arousal estimation. We address the research problems of this challenge from three aspects: 1)For learning robust visual feature representations, we introduce the pre-trained large model Dinov2. 2) To adaptively extract the required features of eack task, we design a task-adaptive block that performs cross-attention between a set of learnable query vectors and pre-extracted features. 3) By proposing the AU-assisted Graph Convolutional Network(AU-GCN), we make full use of the correlation information between AUs to assist in solving the EXPR and VA tasks. Finally, we achieve the evaluation measure of \textbf{1.2542} on the validation set provided by the organizers.

Aligning LLMs through Multi-perspective User Preference Ranking-based Feedback for Programming Question Answering

Code Community Question Answering (CCQA) seeks to tackle programming-related issues, thereby boosting productivity in both software engineering and academic research. Recent advancements in Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) have transformed the fine-tuning process of Large Language Models (LLMs) to produce responses that closely mimic human behavior. Leveraging LLMs with RLHF for practical CCQA applications has thus emerged as a promising area of study. Unlike standard code question-answering tasks, CCQA involves multiple possible answers, with varying user preferences for each response. Additionally, code communities often show a preference for new APIs. These challenges prevent LLMs from generating responses that cater to the diverse preferences of users in CCQA tasks. To address these issues, we propose a novel framework called Aligning LLMs through Multi-perspective User Preference Ranking-based Feedback for Programming Question Answering (ALMupQA) to create user-focused responses. Our approach starts with Multi-perspective Preference Ranking Alignment (MPRA), which synthesizes varied user preferences based on the characteristics of answers from code communities. We then introduce a Retrieval-augmented In-context Learning (RIL) module to mitigate the problem of outdated answers by retrieving responses to similar questions from a question bank. Due to the limited availability of high-quality, multi-answer CCQA datasets, we also developed a dataset named StaCCQA from real code communities. Extensive experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the ALMupQA framework in terms of accuracy and user preference. Compared to the base model, ALMupQA showed nearly an 11% improvement in BLEU, with increases of 20% and 17.5% in BERTScore and CodeBERTScore, respectively.

ArtNeRF: A Stylized Neural Field for 3D-Aware Cartoonized Face Synthesis

Recent advances in generative visual models and neural radiance fields have greatly boosted 3D-aware image synthesis and stylization tasks. However, previous NeRF-based work is limited to single scene stylization, training a model to generate 3D-aware cartoon faces with arbitrary styles remains unsolved. We propose ArtNeRF, a novel face stylization framework derived from 3D-aware GAN to tackle this problem. In this framework, we utilize an expressive generator to synthesize stylized faces and a triple-branch discriminator module to improve the visual quality and style consistency of the generated faces. Specifically, a style encoder based on contrastive learning is leveraged to extract robust low-dimensional embeddings of style images, empowering the generator with the knowledge of various styles. To smooth the training process of cross-domain transfer learning, we propose an adaptive style blending module which helps inject style information and allows users to freely tune the level of stylization. We further introduce a neural rendering module to achieve efficient real-time rendering of images with higher resolutions. Extensive experiments demonstrate that ArtNeRF is versatile in generating high-quality 3D-aware cartoon faces with arbitrary styles.

3D Face Modeling via Weakly-supervised Disentanglement Network joint Identity-consistency Prior

Generative 3D face models featuring disentangled controlling factors hold immense potential for diverse applications in computer vision and computer graphics. However, previous 3D face modeling methods face a challenge as they demand specific labels to effectively disentangle these factors. This becomes particularly problematic when integrating multiple 3D face datasets to improve the generalization of the model. Addressing this issue, this paper introduces a Weakly-Supervised Disentanglement Framework, denoted as WSDF, to facilitate the training of controllable 3D face models without an overly stringent labeling requirement. Adhering to the paradigm of Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), the proposed model achieves disentanglement of identity and expression controlling factors through a two-branch encoder equipped with dedicated identity-consistency prior. It then faithfully re-entangles these factors via a tensor-based combination mechanism. Notably, the introduction of the Neutral Bank allows precise acquisition of subject-specific information using only identity labels, thereby averting degeneration due to insufficient supervision. Additionally, the framework incorporates a label-free second-order loss function for the expression factor to regulate deformation space and eliminate extraneous information, resulting in enhanced disentanglement. Extensive experiments have been conducted to substantiate the superior performance of WSDF. Our code is available at https://github.com/liguohao96/WSDF.

DreamScape: 3D Scene Creation via Gaussian Splatting joint Correlation Modeling

Recent progress in text-to-3D creation has been propelled by integrating the potent prior of Diffusion Models from text-to-image generation into the 3D domain. Nevertheless, generating 3D scenes characterized by multiple instances and intricate arrangements remains challenging. In this study, we present DreamScape, a method for creating highly consistent 3D scenes solely from textual descriptions, leveraging the strong 3D representation capabilities of Gaussian Splatting and the complex arrangement abilities of large language models (LLMs). Our approach involves a 3D Gaussian Guide ($3{DG^2}$) for scene representation, consisting of semantic primitives (objects) and their spatial transformations and relationships derived directly from text prompts using LLMs. This compositional representation allows for local-to-global optimization of the entire scene. A progressive scale control is tailored during local object generation, ensuring that objects of different sizes and densities adapt to the scene, which addresses training instability issue arising from simple blending in the subsequent global optimization stage. To mitigate potential biases of LLM priors, we model collision relationships between objects at the global level, enhancing physical correctness and overall realism. Additionally, to generate pervasive objects like rain and snow distributed extensively across the scene, we introduce a sparse initialization and densification strategy. Experiments demonstrate that DreamScape offers high usability and controllability, enabling the generation of high-fidelity 3D scenes from only text prompts and achieving state-of-the-art performance compared to other methods.

InitNO: Boosting Text-to-Image Diffusion Models via Initial Noise Optimization

Recent strides in the development of diffusion models, exemplified by advancements such as Stable Diffusion, have underscored their remarkable prowess in generating visually compelling images. However, the imperative of achieving a seamless alignment between the generated image and the provided prompt persists as a formidable challenge. This paper traces the root of these difficulties to invalid initial noise, and proposes a solution in the form of Initial Noise Optimization (InitNO), a paradigm that refines this noise. Considering text prompts, not all random noises are effective in synthesizing semantically-faithful images. We design the cross-attention response score and the self-attention conflict score to evaluate the initial noise, bifurcating the initial latent space into valid and invalid sectors. A strategically crafted noise optimization pipeline is developed to guide the initial noise towards valid regions. Our method, validated through rigorous experimentation, shows a commendable proficiency in generating images in strict accordance with text prompts. Our code is available at https://github.com/xiefan-guo/initno.

DrFER: Learning Disentangled Representations for 3D Facial Expression Recognition

Facial Expression Recognition (FER) has consistently been a focal point in the field of facial analysis. In the context of existing methodologies for 3D FER or 2D+3D FER, the extraction of expression features often gets entangled with identity information, compromising the distinctiveness of these features. To tackle this challenge, we introduce the innovative DrFER method, which brings the concept of disentangled representation learning to the field of 3D FER. DrFER employs a dual-branch framework to effectively disentangle expression information from identity information. Diverging from prior disentanglement endeavors in the 3D facial domain, we have carefully reconfigured both the loss functions and network structure to make the overall framework adaptable to point cloud data. This adaptation enhances the capability of the framework in recognizing facial expressions, even in cases involving varying head poses. Extensive evaluations conducted on the BU-3DFE and Bosphorus datasets substantiate that DrFER surpasses the performance of other 3D FER methods.