Bala Kumaravel

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I am a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research, Redmond at the Interactive Multimodal AI Systems group. I work on leveraging Generative AI models (Multimodal Large Language Models and Diffusion models) to enhance user productivity and collaboration in business-critical applications. I am particularly interested in customizing, finetuning, and aligning generative AI models for specific end-user applications.

Before joining Microsoft, I completed my Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley where I was advised by Prof. Björn Hartmann. My research at Berkeley was concentrated in the domains of Virtual and Augmented Reality, exploring applications in diverse activities, from AR/VR-assisted robotics interactions to enhancing learning experiences. Before that, I completed my Bachelors at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras where my Bachelors’ thesis won the best interdisciplinary thesis project amongst all engineering departments and the best thesis in the department.

During my PhD I got to spend time at various places and work with amazing collaborators across Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk - Cuong Nguyen , Stephen DiVerdi , Fraser Anderson , Tovi Grossman , George Fitzmaurice , and Andy Wilson

news

Oct 21, 2024 I will be speaking at panel discussion at the IEEE International Symposium on Emerging Metaverse on Oct 21st 2024 link
Oct 16, 2024 We presented our work on BlendScape and SpaceBlender at UIST 2024. BlendScape won a Honorable Mention Award at UIST 2024. Check out the works at BlendScape and SpaceBlender.
May 11, 2024 We presented our work on SharedNeRF at CHI 2024. SharedNeRF won a Honorable Mention Award at CHI 2024. Check out the work at SharedNeRF.
Mar 16, 2024 Transferred to the Interactive Multimodal AI Systems team at Microsoft Research, Redmond
Sep 11, 2022 Started working as Senior Researcher at the Extended, Perception, Interaction and Cognition (EPIC) team at Microsoft Research, Redmond

selected publications

2024

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    BlendScape: Enabling End-User Customization of Video-Conferencing Environments through Generative AI
    Shwetha RajaramNels Numan, Balasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel, Nicolai Marquardt, and Andrew D Wilson
    In Proceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 2024
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    SpaceBlender: Creating Context-Rich Collaborative Spaces Through Generative 3D Scene Blending
    Nels NumanShwetha Rajaram, Balasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel, Nicolai Marquardt, and Andrew D Wilson
    In Proceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 2024
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    SharedNeRF: Leveraging Photorealistic and View-dependent Rendering for Real-time and Remote Collaboration
    Mose SakashitaBalasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel, Nicolai Marquardt, and Andrew David Wilson
    In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2024
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    BlendScape: Enabling Unified and Personalized Video-Conferencing Environments through Generative AI
    Shwetha RajaramNels Numan, Balasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel, Nicolai Marquardt, and Andrew D. Wilson
    In , 2024

2023

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    StreamFunnel: Facilitating Communication Between a VR Streamer and Many Spectators
    Haohua LyuCyrus VachhaQianyi Chen, Balasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel, and Bjöern Hartmann
    In , 2023

2022

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    Shaping the new future of work through mixed reality
    Bala Kumaravel
    2022
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    Interactive Cross-Dimensional Media for Collaboration and Guidance in Mixed Reality Environments
    Balasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel
    University of California, Berkeley, 2022
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    Modeling and Influencing Human Attentiveness in Autonomy-to-Human Perception Hand-offs
    In 2022 IEEE 25th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), 2022
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    DreamStream: Immersive and Interactive Spectating in VR
    Balasaravanan Thoravi Kumaravel, and Andrew D Wilson
    In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2022

2020

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    TransceiVR: Bridging asymmetrical communication between VR users and external collaborators
    Balasaravanan Thoravi KumaravelCuong NguyenStephen DiVerdi, and Bjoern Hartmann
    In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 2020

2019

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    TutoriVR: A Video-Based Tutorial System for Design Applications in Virtual Reality
    Balasaravanan Thoravi KumaravelCuong NguyenStephen DiVerdi, and Bjoern Hartmann
    In CHI ’19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2019
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    Loki: Facilitating remote instruction of physical tasks using bi-directional mixed-reality telepresence
    Balasaravanan Thoravi KumaravelFraser AndersonGeorge FitzmauriceBjoern Hartmann, and Tovi Grossman
    In Proceedings of the 32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, 2019

Mentoring

Sahithya Ravi (PhD Student, UBC Vancouver) 2024
Gabriel Sarch (PhD Student, Carnegie Mellon University) 2024
Jialu Gao (Masters Student, Carnegie Mellon University) 2024
Cyrus Vaccha (Masters Student, UC Berkeley) 2023
Mose Sakashita (PhD Student, Cornell) 2023
Nels Numan (PhD Student, UCL) 2023
Shwetha Rajaram (PhD Student, UMich) 2023
Stephanie Claudino Daffara (Masters Student, UC Berkeley) 2020
Erin Kraemer (Bachelors Student, UC Berkeley) 2019