arXiv subjects

Weidong Cai

Publications and source records attributed to Weidong Cai.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

SurgiATM: A Physics-Guided Plug-and-Play Model for Deep Learning-Based Smoke Removal in Laparoscopic Surgery

During laparoscopic surgery, smoke generated by tissue cauterization can significantly degrade the visual quality of endoscopic frames, increasing the risk of surgical errors and hindering both clinical decision-making and computer-assisted visual analysis. Consequently, removing surgical smoke is critical to ensuring patient safety and maintaining operative efficiency. In this study, we propose the Surgical Atmospheric Model (SurgiATM) for surgical smoke removal. SurgiATM statistically bridges a physics-based atmospheric model and data-driven deep learning models, combining the superior generalizability of the former with the high accuracy of the latter. Furthermore, SurgiATM is designed as a lightweight module that can be easily integrated into existing surgical desmoking architectures with minimal modification, aiming to enhance their accuracy and stability. The proposed method is derived via statistically optimizing a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model at the output end of arbitrary deep learning methods, with a Laplacian-like error distribution specifically leveraged to model surgical smoke. The output-stage MoE ensures minimal modification to the architecture of the original methods, while the Laplacian-like distribution characteristic of surgical smoke enables a lightweight reconstruction formulation with minimal parameters. Therefore, SurgiATM introduces only two hyperparameters and no additional trainable weights, preserving the original network architecture with minimal computational and modification overhead. We conduct extensive experiments on three public surgical datasets with ten desmoking methods, involving multiple network architectures and covering diverse procedures, including cholecystectomy, partial nephrectomy, and diaphragm dissection.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2026

VirSqueezer: Generating Realistic Deformations and Squeezing Dynamics in VR from Fine-Grained Squeezing Controls

Squeezing is one of the most natural forms of hand manipulation, inherently involving fine-grained, temporally evolving, per-finger flexion. In VR content creation, squeezing plays a unique role in enabling particular visual effects such as localized deformations and dynamic behaviors, e.g., bursting a Coke can or juicing a fruit, thereby expanding the expressive possibilities of VR content. However, existing techniques, such as 3D Gaussian splatting-based methods and diffusion-based video generation models, are limited in their ability to simulate fine-grained virtual squeezing effects. We introduce VirSqueezer, a framework designed to generate both localized deformations (primary effects) and complex squeezing dynamics, such as rupture and overflow (secondary effects). VirSqueezer captures squeezing control signals using a SenseGlove and provides the user with inferred resistance force feedback during the squeezing process. By estimating object contact areas, inferring physical properties, and simulating physical responses, VirSqueezer computes conditions that guide generation models for visual effect generation, ensuring both visual coherence and temporal synchronization with the simulation. Consequently, VirSqueezer enables the generation of physically realistic visual effects directly from continuous, fine-grained squeezing control signals. Our extensive evaluation demonstrates VirSqueezer's ability to reproduce realistic localized deformations, generate convincing visual dynamics, and maintain consistency in fine-grained squeezing controls.

cs.HC↗

arXiv2026

FracEvent: Event-Camera Simulation via Fractional-Relaxation Pixel Dynamics

Event cameras asynchronously report brightness changes with microsecond-level temporal resolution, but real event data remain difficult to collect at scale because specialized sensors, careful synchronization, and task-specific annotations are required. Event-camera simulation is therefore important to event-based vision tasks. Most practical simulators build on contrast-threshold event generation, some with additional filtering, stochastic noise, or hand-tuned sensor parameters. While effective, such formulations often simplify the temporal structure produced by the lifecycle of each pixel, which can distort event timing and weaken downstream transfer. We introduce FracEvent, an event simulator that models this pixel-level lifecycle with fractional-relaxation voltage dynamics. Given a log-intensity trajectory, FracEvent drives a compact stack of relaxation modes, combines their responses into a voltage state, emits ON/OFF events by localizing threshold crossings on the continuous voltage trajectory, and updates the reference while retaining the underlying memory modes. This retained state links residual voltage response to later event timing. We evaluate FracEvent through event-stream comparison and downstream transfer on image reconstruction and optical flow estimation. Across multiple datasets, FracEvent improves the temporal structure of generated events and achieves stronger downstream-transfer results than competing simulator baselines, showing its practical value for event-camera simulation.

cs.CV↗