I am Erzhen Hu, a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the University of Virginia, advised by Prof. Seongkook Heo. Before that, I obtained M.S. in Statistics from University of Virginia, and B.A. in Sociology from Shanghai University. During my PhD, I have had the fortunate opportunity to intern and work with amazing researchers at Microsoft Research and Google. My work has been supported by Google PhD Fellowship.
As we approach the everyday use of virtual world, my research explores how to enable more flexible and frictionless way of connecting with people in virtual and hybrid spaces.
My research includes exploring Human-AI communication paradigms by augmenting human-human interactions through multi-modal agents, leveraging LLMs, and applying advanced 2D and 3D computer vision methods for multi-user scenarios, video-mediated interactions and XR applications. This also involves theory-driven methods (e.g., proxemics, f-formations) to improve ad-hoc and focused conversations, and turn-taking dynamics in small to medium-sized groups.
Design and source code from Link |