Ben Yang

CS PhD Student • Columbia University

Profile Photo

Hi! I'm a 3rd year PhD student in Computer Science at Columbia University. I am super fortunate to be advised by Professor Steven Feiner! I'm also a part of the Computer Graphics and User Interfaces (CGUI) Lab as well as the Columbia HCI group.

As an M.S. student, I also worked under Professor Junfeng Yang. Before Columbia, I received a B.S. in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Cognitive Science from Rutgers University.

Research

My research focuses on proxies and digital twins for interaction techniques in XR. I am also interested in the intersection of XR and AI. My recent works explore:

Selected Publications

Awards

Sep 2025
Columbia-Dream Sports AI Grant Award
Oct 2024
EGSC Professional Development Scholarship
Nov 2022
AGU Michael H. Freilich Student Visualization Competition

Services

Reviewer

CHI 2025, VRST 2024, ISMAR 2024, CHI 2024

Teaching Assistant

COMS 6173: VR and AR Seminar (Fall 2025), COMS 4172: 3DUI and AR (Spring 2024), COMS 4771: Machine Learning (Summer 2021, Fall 2021)

Miscellaneous

When not working on research, I like to ski, climb, and play volleyball. I also enjoy fantasy, sci-fi, and literary fiction. Some of my favorites are Piranesi (Susanna Clarke), The Last Samurai (Helen DeWitt), and The Mountain in the Sea (Ray Nayler).