Microsoft Hololens headset with black background

Mixed Reality & AI Lab – Cambridge

Microsoft Research Cambridge

The Microsoft Mixed Reality & AI Lab – Cambridge sits at the forefront of research, hardware, and software development in the field of social presence in mixed reality. Our mission is to build the technology that powers Microsoft Mesh, spanning the spectrum from avatars to holoported representations of people, and from research prototypes to shipping product. Comprising a diverse, multidisciplinary team, we approach our work not just as an exciting technological opportunity, but with a responsibility to develop this new medium of 3D communication in an inclusive and ethical way.

We combine insights in computer vision, machine learning, and graphics, to understand the motion, shape, and appearance of a user, and recreate their likeness remotely using advanced computer graphics and neural rendering algorithms. We guide our technological development by building human-centric experiences to ensure we design solutions that people will love to use.

The Mixed Reality & AI Lab – Cambridge sits alongside Microsoft Research Lab – Cambridge, and works closely with partner teams in both Zurich and Belgrade.

man wearing a mixed reality device

The lab is currently recruiting diverse, world-class expertise across computer vision, graphics, machine learning, experience, and software engineering. You can find current openings on the Career opportunities tab.

Our focus areas

Neural rendering and generative models; inside-out and outside-in tracking of human faces, bodies, and hands; parametric models of human appearance; temporal models of human motion; deep learning, including representation learning and generative adversarial networks (GANs); 3D reconstruction; holoportation; avatars; advanced hardware and sensors.

Thoughts from our team

Virginia Estellers

“I love that my job provides a continuous source of learning, I work with colleagues whom I can learn from, and we get to solve together fascinating real-world problems.”
– Virginia Estellers, Senior Scientist

James Clemoes

“This team is an enthralling mix of passionate people and future technology indistinguishable from magic.”
– James Clemoes, Senior Scientist

a person smiling for the camera

“Working at the intersection of machine learning, 3D computer vision and speech processing, my work with an amazing team of scientists and engineers has helped me grow both my research and software engineering skills.”
– John Olafenwa, Scientist

Jingjing Shen

“I work on 3D vision, graphics and machine learning, with huge passions in bringing state-of-art techniques into mixed reality products. I’ve worked on projects including fully articulated hand tracking on HoloLens 2, 3D body tracking for Azure Kinect, and most recently real-time 3D holoportation.”
– Jingjing Shen, Senior Scientist