Ruben Schenk - Projects and More

Link to Full Report (PDF) Contributions: Development of a mixed reality application for real-time transcription and translation using the Magic Leap 2. Integration of OpenAI’s Whisper model with a Flask backend for accurate multilingual transcription and translation. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation through a comprehensive user study. Authors: Alejandro Cuadron Lafuente, Elisa Martinez Abad, Ruben Schenk, Sophya Tsubin Institution: ETH Zurich, Institute for Visual Computing Overview The project aimed to bridge language barriers in mixed reality (MR) by developing a real-time transcription and translation application for the Magic Leap 2. The application leverages OpenAI’s Whisper model to accurately transcribe and translate spoken language in MR environments, enhancing communication across multilingual users. ...

Generalized Automated Plate Computation for Cleft Lip and Palate Ruben Schenk – January 2025 Project Overview This project aimed to enhance a fully automated pipeline for presurgical orthopedic plate design for newborns with cleft lip and palate (CLP). Conducted in collaboration with the University Hospital Basel and the University of Basel, the focus was on improving plate design for bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) cases, extending buccal areas, and stabilizing the premaxilla. ...

Link to Full Report (PDF) Contributions: Development of the RainFM hybrid model, integrating matrix factorization, neural networks, and Bayesian inference. Implementation of a stratified data grouping strategy to enhance predictive accuracy. Extensive evaluation of baseline and hybrid models, including SVD, ALS, GMF, MLP, and BFM. Authors: Rainer Feichtinger, Rongxing Liu, Justin Lo, Ruben Schenk Institution: ETH Zurich, Computational Intelligence Lab Overview The RainFM project addresses the challenge of enhancing predictive accuracy in recommender systems by combining multiple collaborative filtering (CF) strategies. By stratifying the dataset based on statistical properties and applying distinct models to each subset, RainFM demonstrates improved accuracy in item recommendation over conventional approaches. ...

Link to Full Report (PDF) Contributions: Extensive experiments on 2D video approximation and sparse 3D reconstruction. Analysis of activation function performance under varying data sparsity conditions. Implementation of a geometric initialisation scheme for Gaussian activation. Authors: Ruben Schenk, Bruce Balfour, Alexandra Trofimova Institution: ETH Zurich, Institute for Visual Computing Overview Coordinate-based Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLPs) have gained significant traction in recent years for their ability to approximate complex signals such as 2D images, 3D shapes, and even 4D spatiotemporal data. However, a key aspect that remains underexplored is the implicit bias introduced by various activation functions within these networks. This project delves into the effects of different activation functions on the representational capacity of coordinate-MLPs, with a particular focus on their performance in 2D video approximation and sparse 3D reconstruction tasks. ...

Asylum Acceptance Rates – An Economic Perspective Ruben Schenk, Damola Agbelese, Yifan Bao, Daria Borodulina Project Overview The asylum acceptance rates project aimed to investigate the influence of various economic factors on asylum acceptance rates across six European countries – Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and France. The project was conducted as part of the ‘Data Science in Techno-Socio-Economic Systems’ course at ETH Zurich in May 2023. Motivation and Background Understanding the determinants of asylum acceptance rates is critical in shaping policies and assessing the socio-economic impact of asylum seekers on host countries. The motivation stemmed from the ongoing global refugee crises, including conflicts in Syria, Ukraine, and Afghanistan, which have collectively displaced millions of individuals. The economic pressures associated with refugee influxes and the varying asylum acceptance rates across European countries prompted the exploration of economic factors as potential predictors of asylum decisions. ...