Lavanya Sharan

Senior Data Scientist
Streaming Science & Algorithms Group, Netflix, Inc.
Email: lavanya@csail.mit.edu

I was a research scientist in Ruth Rosenholtz's group in the Dept. of Brain & Cognitive Sciences at MIT from 2012 to 2015. I received my PhD in Computer Science with Edward Adelson at MIT in 2009, and from 2009 to 2012, I was a postdoctoral researcher in Jessica Hodgins's group at Disney Research, Pittsburgh.

As an academic, I studied visual perception from behavioral and computational perspectives. In my work, I used psychophysical methods to measure specific visual abilities, and I built computational models to understand how the human visual system might support those abilities. My research focused on explaining visual perception in real-world conditions rather than simplified, abstract settings, and utilized techniques from computer science, specifically, computer vision and computer graphics, to handle the complexity of real-world visual inputs.

Lavanya Sharan (2010) Image courtesy: Dr. R. Hamid
Image courtesy Raffay Hamid

  1. Publications
  2. Research
  3. Curriculum Vitae
  4. Press
  5. Google Scholar

HTML | PDF

Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph. D., Electrical Engineering & Computer ScienceSeptember 2009
S. M., Electrical Engineering & Computer ScienceSeptember 2005
Advisor: Edward H. Adelson

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
B. Tech, Electrical EngineeringAugust 2003
GPA 9.62/10.00, awarded Institute Silver Medal for academic excellence

Work Experience

Netflix, Inc.
Senior Data Scientist, Streaming Science & AlgorithmsJan 2016 - present

Insight Data Science
Data Science FellowSep 2015 - Dec 2015

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Scientist, Dept. of Brain & Cognitive SciencesMay 2014 - Dec 2015
Postdoctoral Associate, Dept. of Brain & Cognitive SciencesOct 2012 - Apr 2014
Advisor: Ruth Rosenholtz

Disney Research, Pittsburgh
Postdoctoral AssociateSep 2009 - Sep 2012
Advisor: Jessica K. Hodgins

Carnegie Mellon University
Instructor, 16-899A Visual Perception for Computer Vision & GraphicsSpring 2011
Co-Instructor: Alexei A. Efros

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Assistant, Dept. of Electrical Engineering & Computer ScienceSep 2003 - Aug 2009
Teaching Assistant, 6.02 Digital Communication SystemsSpring 2009
Teaching Assistant, 6.002 Digital Electronic CircuitsFall 2004

Refereed Publications

[1] M. Tan, J-F. Lalonde, L. Sharan, H. Rushmeier, and C. O'Sullivan, "The perception of lighting inconsistencies in composite outdoor scenes", ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, vol. 12, no. 4, article 18, 2015.
[2] L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Accuracy and speed of material categorization in real-world images", Journal of Vision, vol. 14, no. 9, article 12, 2014.
[3] L. Sharan, Z. H. Neo, K. Mitchell, and J. K. Hodgins, "Simulated motion blur does not improve player experience in racing game", in Proc. of ACM Conference on Motion in Games, pp. 149-154, 2013.
[4] L. Sharan, C. Liu, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Recognizing materials using perceptually inspired features", International Journal of Computer Vision, vol. 108, no. 3, pp. 348-371, 2013.
[5] E. J. Carter, L. Sharan, L. C. Trutoiu, I. Matthews, and J. K. Hodgins, "Perceptually motivated guidelines for voice synchronization in film", ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, vol. 7, no. 4, article 23, 2010.
[6] C. Liu, L. Sharan, E. H. Adelson, and R. Rosenholtz, "Exploring features in a Bayesian framework for material recognition", in Proc. of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, pp. 239-246, 2010.
[7] L. Sharan, Y. Li, I. Motoyoshi, S. Nishida, and E. H. Adelson, "Image statistics for surface reflectance perception", Journal of the Optical Society of America A, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 846-865, 2008.
[8] I. Motoyoshi, S. Nishida, L. Sharan, and E. H. Adelson, "Image statistics and the perception of surface qualities", Nature, vol. 447, pp. 206-209, 2007.
[9] Y. Li, L. Sharan, and E. H. Adelson, "Compressing and companding high dynamic range images with subband architectures", ACM Transactions on Graphics (SIGGRAPH), vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 836-844, 2005.

Refereed Abstracts

[10] R. Rosenholtz, L. Sharan, E. Park, and B. Balas, "Why don't we see the gorilla? Looking in the wrong place, attending to the wrong objects, or doing the wrong task?", European Conference on Visual Perception, Liverpool, UK, 2015. (oral presentation)
[11] L. Sharan, and R. Rosenholtz, "If you see the change peripherally, you spot it sooner: Peripheral discriminability is correlated with change detection performance", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL, 2014.
[12] L. Sharan, and R. Rosenholtz, "If you cannot see it, you look at it: Visual conspicuity in real-world scenes is correlated with fixations", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2013. (oral presentation)
[13] L. Sharan, L. Signal, and J. K. Hodgins, "Recognizing activities and poses: lessons from computer vision", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2012.
[14] B. Xiao, L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Speed of material vs. object recognition depends upon viewing condition", OSA Fall Vision Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2011.
[15] L. Sharan, M. Kaemmerer, M. Mahler, K. W. Sok, and J. K. Hodgins, "Animated character appearance does not affect judgments of motion trajectory", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2011.
[16] E. H. Adelson, L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and B. Xiao, "Material recognition is fast, but not superfast", Vision Sciences Society Meeeting, Naples, FL, 2011.
[17] L. Sharan, C. Liu, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "A computational model for material recognition", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2010.
[18] L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Rapid perception of material properties in natural images", International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems Meeting, Boston, MA, 2009.
[19] L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Material perception: what can you see in a brief glance?", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2009. (oral presentation)
[20] L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Rapid visual perception of material properties", Object Perception Attention and Memory Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2008.
[21] L. Sharan, R. Rosenholtz, and E. H. Adelson, "Eye movements for material perception", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2008. (oral presentation)
[22] S. Nishida, I. Motoyoshi, L. Nakano, Y. Li, L. Sharan, and E. H. Adelson, "Do colored highlights look like highlights?", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Naples, FL, 2008.
[23] L. Sharan, E. H. Adelson, I. Motoyoshi, and S. Nishida, "Non-oriented filters are better than oriented filters for skewness detection", European Conference on Visual Perception, Arezzo, Italy, 2007. (oral presentation)
[24] L. Sharan, E. H. Adelson, I. Motoyoshi, and S. Nishida, "Histogram skewness is useful and easily computed", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Sarasota, FL, 2007.
[25] L. Sharan, Y. Li, and E. H. Adelson, "Image statistics for surface reflectance estimation", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Sarasota, FL, 2006. (oral presentation)
[26] L. Sharan, Y. Li, and E. H. Adelson, "Image statistics and reflectance estimation", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Sarasota, FL, 2005. (oral presentation)
[27] Y. Li, L. Sharan, and E. H. Adelson, "Perceptually based range compression for high dynamic range images", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Sarasota, FL, 2005.
[28] E. H. Adelson, Y. Li, and L. Sharan, "Image statistics for material perception", Vision Sciences Society Meeting, Sarasota, FL, 2004.

Patent

J. K. Hodgins, E. de Aguiar, L. Sharan, M. Mahler, and A. Shamir, "Perceptually guided capture and stylization of 3D human figures", US Patent No. 20130226528, issued date August 29th, 2013.
Received Disney Inventor Award for successful filing of this patent

Grant writing

Co-Author (Postdoctoral Role), Google Research Award, Rethinking augmented reality in terms of peripheral vision, PI: Ruth Rosenholtz, August 2013.

Co-Author (Postdoctoral Role), NIH/NEI R01 EY019262: Mechanisms for the Perception of Surfaces and Materials & NIH/NEI R21 EY019741: Rapid Material Perception, PI: Edward H. Adelson, Total award amount: $573,255, September 2009.

Honors and Awards

Awarded Outstanding Reviewer at IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Boston, MA, June 2015.

Awarded Best Oral Presentation at the ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion in Games, Dublin, Ireland, November 2013.

Received Disney Inventor Award for successful filing of patent, Perceptually Guided Capture and Stylization of 3D Human Figures, February 28th, 2012.

Selected to attend the Computational Neuroscience: Vision summer school at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, June 2008.

Awarded the Institute Silver Medal for graduating top of the Electrical Engineering class at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, August 2003.

Professional Activities

Journal reviews
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics (AP&P), International Journal of Computer Vision (IJCV), Journal of Vision (JoV), Neurocomputing, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), Vision Research

Conference reviews
ACM International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Technologies (SIGGRAPH) 2011, 2012; European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) 2010; IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015; IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) 2013; Haptics Symposium, 2013

Program Committee
ACM Symposium on Applied Perception 2012, ACM SIGGRAPH Conference on Motion in Games 2014, 2015

Mentoring Experience

Supervisor, undergraduate research assistant, Emily Park (Wellesley)2014-2015

Supervisor, MIT undergraduate research assistant, Keith GalliSpring 2014

Supervisor, CMU graduate student and Research Assistant at Graphics Lab,2011-2012
Zhe Han Neo

Co-Supervisor, Lab Associates at Disney Research, Pittsburgh:Spring & Summer 2010
Matthew Kaemmerer, Spencer R. Diaz, and Ishita Kapur

Supervisor, MIT undergraduate research assistants:2008
William Yee, Aseema Mohanty, and Biyeun Buczyk

Supervisor, MIT undergraduate research assistant, Cong LuoSummer 2006