Vedant Saran

Hi! I'm a grad student working with Prof. Eric Paulos in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at UC Berkeley. My research interest lies in exploring human-computer interaction paradigms and computer vision techniques to advance augmented reality. I'm particularly interested in leveraging these new technologies to design better shared immersive experiences.

Email - Resume - LinkedIn - Github

Research

I'm currently designing interfaces that integrate the digital and physical affordances of fabrication tools at the Hybrid Ecologies Lab . Before that, I spent three years as an Undergraduate Research Fellow under Professor Allen Yang at the Berkeley Center for Augmented Cognition, where I explored novel control systems for human operators to interact with swarms of flying robots.

• DynaSLAM: DynaSLAM is a novel SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithm that segments high-dynamic and low-dynamic objects from an environment in real-time. Built on top of RTABMAP in C++ and ROS, it generates separate dense maps of the static parts of the environment and the low dynamic objects in it, while filtering out high-dynamic objects. This work empowers AR/VR users, autonomous drones and robots to navigate safely in the presence of moving objects (like cars, people, or other robots.)
• ISAACS Interfaces ISAACS (Immersive Semi-Autonomous Aerial Control System) is a framework for controlling fleets of drones through AR and VR. I led a sub-team to design and develop AR and VR interfaces to set waypoints, visualize flight data, and strike the right balance between human agency and robot autonomy. It was a recipient of the inaugural Microsoft Hololens Academic Grant in 2015. Read More...
• ISAACS Backend I also developed some of the core infrastructure for the ISAACS project. Using C++, ROS, and PCL, I built efficient 3D mapping solutions, wrote networking and data streaming modules, and adapted dynamic control planners for different types of drones. Read More...
• Ecostation Data Access Monitor -I spent a semester at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, where I built a Django web app for an inference model that measures the openess and completeness of bio-diversity data repositories. Read More...

Projects

Sometimes I build things. Sometimes they have puns in their names. Here are the ones I got around to finishing.

• Getting ARound is an Android app that uses ARCore, ambisonics and spatialized sound to help the blind navigate the world. Using the app, they can create Hansel-and-Gretel style audio-breadcrumbs, identify landmarks, drop audio pins, and follow paths. It won three awards at MIT Media Lab and got some press here. Read More...
• Virtual Campanile is an HTC Vive experience that lets you play the carillon atop Berkeley's famous Campanile bell tower . Virtual Campanile has been played and adored by thousands in the Berkeley community, from professional carilloners and little children to the university Chancellor and Oski the mascot. Read More...
• InstARuction Manuals is an iOS app that augments operating instructions on top of machinery. Backed by the Jacobs Innovation Catalyst Grant, we're working to integrate these into makerspaces across campus. The hope is that these would boost the recall, safety, and efficiency of traditional paper-and-pdf based training series.
• Augmented Annotations is a mobile app that lets you 3D scan your immediate surroundings, and draw 3D bounding boxes directly over the world. This data is fed into a machine learning pipeline to train image classification, detection, semantic segmentation, etc. kinds of models.It is 33% faster at data collection/labelling than MTurk style software.
• LiAR is an interactive digital art piece exhibited at the Worth Ryder Art Gallery. Inspired by the #MeToo movement, Liar surrounds the viewer with disembodied hands that react to their position and view, forcing contemplation. Read More...
• Global News is a web app that lets you visualize how news spreads geographically across the world. Built in WebGL, it won first prize at CalHacks , the largest collegiate hackathon in the nation. Read More...
• Holo DejARik lets you play Dejarik (the fictional chess-like game from Star Wars), on the Hololens.
• Holo ARtist is a 3D painting app in the vein of TiltBrush, built for the Hololens.
• VRacer is a racing game built for the Oculus DK2, where the user moves around the course by tilting their outstretched hand. Hand-tracking is done with the LeapMotion sensor.
• HomeCast is a replacement homepage for Google Chromecast that displays the weather, time, news headlines, and a random Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

Work Experience

I've tried to get experience different kinds of environments - I've interned at one of the biggest companies in network-security, a "unicorn" startup in the same field, a national research lab in Germany, and the New Delhi International Airport. I also cofounded a startup.

• German Aerospace Center - Working with the human psychology team, I analyzed human driving behaviour to inform better design lane-merging on L2/L3 autonomous vehicles.
• Pengram - Along with some friends, I built Pengram, a cross-platform AR/VR system for remote technical assistance and training. We're advised by Berkeley Skydeck and The House , won first place at the International Finals for Microsoft ImagineCup 2018 in the Mixed Reality category (and first place overall in the US Nationals) and have enterprise customers using our product across continents. I was interviewed about it by Geekwire as well. Read More...
• Vmware - I built a patented machine learning platform that intelligently suggests firewall rules, categorizes workloads, and provides insight into network traffic. Read More...
• Illumio - I designed and developed a tool to reveal the hidden flow information in network topology diagrams. It's now a central feature of the Illumination product, and in production with many of their clients. I also blogged about my experience here. Read More...
• GMR - I worked on the C#/.NET application that that controls the tollbooth outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. I also added GPS tracking and geo-fencing to the mobile app that enables VIPs to swiftly get around the airport.

Teaching Experience

Over the last couple years, I've tried to get involved with teaching on and around campus. I've found it a great way to sharpen my own understanding of topics, as well as give back to the Berkeley community!

• CS198-80: Virtual Reality Class - I co-designed and teach a two unit class on VR design and development, offered under Berkeley's EE/CS department. The class is currently in its third semester. All the course material (minus the hardware) is publicly available here.
• Workshops - A collection of the talks and workshops I've given. Listed here mostly for my own posterity.