Otmar Hilliges

Prof. Dr. Otmar Hilliges is a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich. He leads the AIT lab and serves as the head of the Institute of Intelligent Interactive Systems. His research focuses on spatio-temporal understanding of human movement and interaction, leveraging algorithms and representations from videos, images, and sensor data for applications in Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Human-Robot Interaction.

Education:

• Diplom (MSc) in Computer Science, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany
• PhD in Computer Science, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), Germany (2009)

Research Interests: Hilliges' work spans computer vision, robotics, and human-computer interaction. He develops methods for 3D human pose estimation, generative models for realistic avatar creation, and physically plausible simulation of human-object interactions. His research emphasizes practical applications in AR/VR and assistive robotics, aiming to bridge the gap between perception and action.

Grants & Contributions:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2022-2027): 'AI-Perceive: Robust Human-Centric Computer Vision for Advanced AI-Agents'
• Google Research Agreement (2020-2025): 'Generative Modelling of Humans'
• Microsoft Research Grants: Focus on human-centric robotics and interactive technologies

Labs & Teams: Leads the AIT Lab at ETH Zurich, which pioneers research in intelligent interactive systems, emphasizing human-centric AI and robotics. The lab collaborates on projects ranging from drone cinematography to haptic feedback systems.