Rahul Arora

Meta · Reality Labs

We present SymbiosisSketch, a hybrid sketching system that combines drawing in air (3D) and on a drawing surface (2D) to create detailed 3D designs of arbitrary scale in an augmented reality (AR) setting. SymbiosisSketch leverages the complementary affordances of 3D (immersive, unconstrained, life-sized) and 2D (precise, constrained, ergonomic) int...

We present the first algorithm for designing volumetric Michell Trusses. Our method uses a parametrization-based approach to generate trusses made of structural elements aligned with the primary direction of an object's stress field. Such trusses exhibit high strength-to-weight ratio while also being parametrically editable which can be easily inte...

We explore the use of hand gestures for authoring animations in virtual reality (VR). We first perform a gesture elicitation study to understand user preferences for a spatiotemporal, bare-handed interaction system in VR. Specifically, we focus on creating and editing dynamic, physical phenomena (e.g., particle systems, deformations, coupling), whe...

We present CASSIE, a conceptual modeling system in VR that leverages freehand mid-air sketching, and a novel 3D optimization framework to create connected curve network armatures, predictively surfaced using patches with C⁰ continuity. Our system provides a judicious balance of interactivity and automation, providing a homogeneous 3D drawing interf...

Complex 3D curves can be created by directly drawing mid-air in immersive environments (Augmented and Virtual Realities). Drawing mid-air strokes precisely on the surface of a 3D virtual object, however, is difficult; necessitating a projection of the mid-air stroke onto the user "intended" surface curve. We present the first detailed investigation...

Recent developments in immersive technologies of virtual and augmented realities (VR/AR) have opened up the immersive space for 3D creation. By removing the crutch of two-dimensional proxies for input and output, the immersive medium presents a significant advance in the design of intuitive interfaces for 3D creative expression. However, immersion...

Complex 3D curves can be created by directly drawing mid-air in immersive environments (Augmented and Virtual Realities). Drawing mid-air strokes precisely on the surface of a 3D virtual object, however, is difficult, necessitating a projection of the mid-air stroke onto the user “intended” surface curve. We present the first detailed investigation...

Size and distance perception in Virtual Reality (VR) have been widely studied, albeit in a controlled laboratory setting with a small number of participants. We describe a fully remote perceptual study with a gamified protocol to encourage participant engagement, which allowed us to quickly collect high-quality data from a large, diverse participan...

Virtual and augmented realities (VR/AR) allow artists to create 3D content in a three-dimensional space---both display and inputs are 3D. Getting rid of 2D proxies such as screens and graphic tablets removes a significant barrier from 3D creation and allows artists to create more intuitively, and potentially more efficiently. However, creating in V...

We present the first algorithm for designing volumetric Michell Trusses. Our method uses a parametrization approach to generate trusses made of structural elements aligned with the primary direction of an object's stress field. Such trusses exhibit high strength-to-weight ratios. We demonstrate the structural robustness of our designs via a posteri...

Sketching in immersive 3D virtual reality (VR) environments has great potential for a variety of interactive 3D design applications. Precisely sketching the intended strokes in mid-air, however, can be a challenge. In this paper, we present a set of controlled studies to analyze the factors affecting human ability to sketch freely in a 3D VR enviro...

A hallmark of early stage design is a number of quick-and-dirty sketches capturing design inspirations, model variations and alternate viewpoints of a visual concept. We present SketchSoup, a workflow that allows designers to explore the design space induced by such sketches. We take an unstructured collection of drawings as input, along with a sma...

The perfect matching problem has a randomized NC algorithm, using the celebrated Isolation Lemma of Mulmuley, Vazirani and Vazirani. The Isolation Lemma states that giving a random weight assignment to the edges of a graph, ensures that it has a unique minimum weight perfect matching, with a good probability. We derandomize this lemma for $K_{3,3}$...

Word Sense Disambiguation (referred to as WSD henceforth) is the task of finding the ap-propriate sense of a word used in a given sentence, when the word may have multiple senses. For example consider these two sentences -Mary walked along the bank of the river. HarborBank is the richest bank in the city. It can be noticed that the word bank refers...