Iskra: A System for Inverse Geometry Processing

2026-02-12

AI Summary

This work proposes the first differentiable geometry processing system that seamlessly integrates with modern machine learning frameworks, addressing the longstanding challenge of combining geometric algorithms—typically non-differentiable and reliant on complex control flow—with gradient-based optimization. By unifying the adjoint method with a scatter-gather mesh processing paradigm, the system enables efficient gradient computation for existing geometric algorithms without requiring algorithmic reimplementation. It supports state-of-the-art solvers such as local-global and ADMM schemes and provides native differentiability for classical operations including curvature flows and conformal parameterizations. Evaluated on multiple inverse geometry problems, the approach significantly reduces both memory consumption and computational overhead, outperforming general-purpose differentiable optimization tools in runtime efficiency while dramatically lowering implementation effort.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Learning with Manifolds
• Search and Optimization: Mixed Discrete/Continuous Search
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Geometric, Spatial, and Temporal Reasoning

Application Category

• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: On-Device user modeling, personalization, and recommendation

Abstract

We propose a system for differentiating through solutions to geometry processing problems. Our system differentiates a broad class of geometric algorithms, exploiting existing fast problem-specific schemes common to geometry processing, including local-global and ADMM solvers. It is compatible with machine learning frameworks, opening doors to new classes of inverse geometry processing applications. We marry the scatter-gather approach to mesh processing with tensor-based workflows and rely on the adjoint method applied to user-specified imperative code to generate an efficient backward pass behind the scenes. We demonstrate our approach by differentiating through mean curvature flow, spectral conformal parameterization, geodesic distance computation, and as-rigid-as-possible deformation, examining usability and performance on these applications. Our system allows practitioners to differentiate through existing geometry processing algorithms without needing to reformulate them, resulting in low implementation effort, fast runtimes, and lower memory requirements than differentiable optimization tools not tailored to geometry processing.

Problem

• inverse geometry processing
• differentiable geometry processing
• adjoint method
• mesh processing
• geometric algorithms

Innovation

• inverse geometry processing
• differentiable programming
• adjoint method
• scatter-gather
• geometry processing