A computer-implemented method for generating a 2D or 3D object, including training an autoencoder on a first set of training data to identify a first set of latent variables and generate a first set of output data; training an hourglass predictor on a second set of training data, where the hourglass predictor encoder converts a set of related but different training input data to a second set of latent variables, which decode into a second set of output data of the same type as the first set of output data; and using the hourglass predictor to predict a 2D or 3D object of the same type as the first set of output data based on a 2D or 3D object of the same type as the second set of input data.