Kenny Chen

Email | Google Scholar | CV [PDF]


Research Interests
I am broadly interested in computer graphics & displays, VR/AR, psychophysics, high dynamic range, color, image quality, applications of AI, and more. My thesis work focuses on developing algorithms for optimizing immersive displays, especially by leveraging data from studies of human perception and visual psychophysics.

Education
New York University
PhD in Computer Science
MS in Computer Science
Supervised by Prof. Qi Sun

2023 - Present
2021 - 2023
University of California, Berkeley
BA in Computer Science
Supervised by Prof. Carlo Sequin

2017 - 2021

Publications (*=equal contribution)
Adapting Quality Metrics to Tone Mapping
Chen, Kim, Asano, Chapiro, Sun, Mantiuk
ACM SIGGRAPH 2026

2026

Dichoptic Foveation
Kam, Groth, Kang, Saraf, Sun, Chen
ACM SIGGRAPH 2026
Dynamic Visual Dominance in Stereoscopic Foveation
Jiménez Navarro, Groth, Chen, Sun, Myszkowski, Seidel, Serrano
ACM SIGGRAPH 2026
Cost-Aware Routing for Efficient Text-To-Image Generation
Li, Chen, Su, Jitkrittum, Sun, Sangkloy
TMLR 2026
ML-PEA: Machine Learning-Based Perceptual Algorithms for Display Power Optimization
Chen, Matsuda, Wan, Ninan, Chapiro, Sun
Eurographics 2026
Perceptual Impact of Peak Luminance and Contrast in Direct View HDR Display
Chen*, Zhang*, Sun, Chapiro
IS&T HVEI 2026
Perceptually Guided 3DGS Streaming and Rendering for Virtual Reality
Zhang*, Mupparaju*, Chen, Kang, Zhang, Omori, Arimatsu, Sun
IEEE/CVF WACV 2026
GeneVA: A Dataset of Human Annotations for Generative Text to Video Artifacts
Kang, Sangkloy, Silva, Chen, Williams, Sun
IEEE/CVF WACV 2026
What is HDR? Perceptual Impact of Luminance and Contrast in Immersive Displays
Chen, Matsuda, McElvain, Zhao, Wan, Sun, Chapiro
ACM SIGGRAPH 2025

2025

Image-GS: Content-Adaptive Image Representation via 2D Gaussians
Zhang*, Li*, Kuznetsov, Jindal, Diolatzis, Chen, Sochenov, Kaplanyan, Sun
ACM SIGGRAPH 2025
View Synthesis for 3D Computer-Generated Holograms Using Deep Neural Fields
Chen, Wen, Zhang, Chakravarthula, Sun
Optics Express 2025
Process Only Where You Look: Hardware and Algorithm Co-optimization for Efficient Gaze-Tracked Image Rendering in Virtual Reality
Wang, Liu, Chen, Sun, Zhang
ACM/IEEE ISCA 2025
Perceptually-Guided Acoustic ``Foveation''
Peng, Chen, Roman, Bello, Sun, Chakravarthula
IEEE VR 2025
PEA-PODs: Perceptual Evaluation of Algorithms for Power Optimization in XR Displays
Chen, Wan, Matsuda, Ninan, Chapiro, Sun
ACM SIGGRAPH 2024 Best Paper Award (Honorable Mention)

2024

Exploiting Human Color Discrimination for Memory- and Energy-Efficient Image Encoding in Virtual Reality
Ujjainkar, Shahan, Chen, Duinkharjav, Sun, Zhu
ACM ASPLOS 2024
Toward Optimized VR/AR Ergonomics: Modeling and Predicting User Neck Muscle Contraction
Zhang, Chen, Sun
ACM SIGGRAPH 2023

2023

Color-Perception-Guided Display Power Reduction for Virtual Reality
Duinkharjav*, Chen*, Tyagi, He, Zhu, Sun
ACM SIGGRAPH Asia 2022

2022


Posters/Demos (*=equal contribution)
Limits of Visual Saliency Models for AI-Generated Videos
Kang, Williams, Silva, Chen, Sangkloy, Sun
JOV 2026 | Poster at Vision Sciences Society

2026

BlendFusion: Procedural 3D Texturing Assistant with View-Consistent Generative Models
Li, Torrens, Chen, Sun
ACM I3D 2025 Best Poster Award

2025

Towards Learning and Generating Audience Motion from Video
Chen, Badler
ACM SCA 2023 | Poster

2023

Imperceptible Color Modulation for Power Saving in VR/AR
Chen, Duinkharjav, Ujjainkar, Shahan, Tyagi, He, Zhu, Sun
ACM SIGGRAPH 2023 | Emerging Technologies Demo

Employment
Adobe | Research Scientist Intern

May 2026 - August 2026
University of Cambridge | Visiting Student
mentored by Prof. Rafał Mantiuk.
  • Worked on quality metrics for tone mapping.
June 2025 - August 2025
Meta Reality Labs | Research Scientist Intern
mentored by Dr. Alexandre Chapiro.
  • Studied/modeled contrast and luminance preferences in HDR displays.
  • Developed perceptual tone mapping algorithms for HDR video.
  • Resulted in a SIGGRAPH 2025 paper.
June 2024- January 2025
Meta Reality Labs | Research Scientist Intern
mentored by Dr. Alexandre Chapiro.
  • Studied the perceptual impact of different display power optimization algorithms in a VR setting.
  • Measured and modelled power consumption of the Quest Pro display.
  • Resulted in a SIGGRAPH 2024 journal paper which won a best paper award, honorable mention.
June 2023 - January 2024
Cesium | Research Scientist Intern
supervised by Prof. Norman I. Badler.
  • Resulted in a poster presentation at SCA 2023.
June 2022 - August 2022

Talks
Perceptually-Inspired Algorithms for Power Optimization in XR Displays
High-Beams Seminar | University College London (Remote)
Invited by Prof. Kaan Akşit
2024
PEAPODs: Perceptual Evaluation of Algorithms for Power Optimization in XR Displays
SIGGRAPH 2024 | Denver, Colorado
2024
Color-Perception-Guided Display Power Reduction for Virtual Reality
SIGGRAPH Asia 2022 | Daegu, South Korea
2022

Teaching
CS-GY 9223: Virtual and Augmented Reality
New York University, Course Assistant
Fall 2024
CS-GY 6313: Data Visualization
New York University, Course Assistant
Spring 2023, 2025
CS-GY 6533 A: Interactive Computer Graphics
New York University, Course Assistant
Fall 2021
CS 184: Computer Graphics & Imaging
UC Berkeley, Undergraduate Student Instructor
Spring 2021
CS 194-26: Intro to Computer Vision and Computational Photography
UC Berkeley, Group Tutor & Reader
Fall 2020

Awards & Honors
Deborah Rosenthal, MD Award, NYU
For outstanding performance on the PhD qualification exam.
2025
U.S. DoE Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Fellowship (GAANN), NYU
Scholarship to cover tuition and fees, as well as program stipend.
2024
Best Paper Award (Honorable Mention), SIGGRAPH 2024
For the paper “PEA-PODs: Perceptual Evaluation of Algorithms for Power Optimization in XR Displays”.
2024
Tandon School of Engineering PhD Fellowship, NYU
2023
Graduate Scholarship, NYU
2021
CS184 Computer Graphics Final Project Showcase Winner, NYU
2020