Ishwarya Ananthabhotla
Machine Learning and Audio Research Scientist
About Me
I am a Research Scientist on the Meta Reality Labs Research Audio Team. I work on machine learning applied to problems in room acoustics, spatial audio, auditory perception, and behavior and communication understanding in conversations. More generally, my research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning, signal processing, cognition, and audio.
I completed my Bachelors from MIT in 2015, my Masters from MIT in 2016, and my PhD from the MIT Media Lab in 2021, advised by Prof. Joe Paradiso. I was supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2016-2019) and the Apple AI/ ML Fellowship (2020-2022). Outside of research, I enjoy singing, playing instruments, and writing; while at MIT, I also enjoyed DJ-ing at the WMBR radio station.
Publications
2025EgoAdapt: Adaptive Multisensory Distillation and Policy Learning for Efficient Egocentric Perception
ICCV[paper]
2025Spatial Storybook: Language Model-driven Audiobook Spatialization
SIGGRAPH Spatial Storytelling[paper]
2024On HRTF Notch Frequency Prediction Using Anthropometric Features and Neural Networks
ICASSP[paper]
2023A Two‑Dimensional Threshold Test for Reverberation Time and Direct‑to‑Reverberant Ratio
I3DA[paper]
2023Autonomous Room Acoustic Measurements Using Rapidly‑Exploring Random Trees and Gaussian Processes
Forum Acusticum[paper]
2022Towards the Prediction of Perceived Room Acoustical Similarity (Best Student Paper)
AES AVAR[paper]
2021Cognitive Audio Interfaces: Mediating Sonic Information with an Understanding of How We Hear
IEEE Pervasive Computing[paper]
2021A Framework for Designing Head‑related Transfer Function (HRTF) Distance Metrics that Capture Localization Perception
JASA Express Letters[paper]
2020Using a Neural Network Codec Approximation Loss to Improve Source Separation Performance in Limited Capacity Networks
IJCNN[paper]
2019Towards a Perceptual Loss: Using a Neural Network Codec Approximation as a Loss for Generative Audio Models
ACM Multimedia[paper]
2019HCU400: An Annotated Dataset for Exploring Aural Phenomenology through Causal Uncertainty
ICASSP[paper]
2018SoundSignaling: Realtime, Stylistic Modification of a Personal Music Corpus for Information Delivery
ACM IMWUT[paper]
2017VisualSoundtrack: An Approach to Style Transfer in the Context of Soundtrack Composition
ICMC[paper]
Music, Writing, Radio
I enjoy learning and singing Carnatic music and lighter forms of Indian music, as well as playing keys, harmonium, naal, and dholak. I also enjoy dabbling in song writing, music production, and mixing and mastering in my spare time. Some performances and recordings across genres: Sruthi Laya TCD 2014, MIT C-Show 2016, Someone Like You (Arr.) 2015. I also love writing short stories and poetry; some of my writing was awarded an MIT Karmel Prize, and I've written a few plays (An Untimely Life, A Familiar Melody) that have aired on my WMBR production, "The Daydream Company." You can sample some content from my days as a radio host below.
Post-It Wall: "If you could leave one piece of advice behind for the world to hear, what would it be?" Episode 3 - Guest: Neil Gaikwad, April 5th, 2017 Episode 4 - Guest: JJ Hernandez, April 19th, 2017 Episode 7 - Guest: Ravi Yegya-Raman, June 14th, 2017 Episode 9 - Guest: Arthi Vezhavendan, July 26th, 2017 Episode 10 - Guest: Vimala Nandula, August 9th, 2017 Episode 12 - Guest: Elizabeth Devine, September 20th, 2017 Of Moments and Melodies: "A whirlwind tour of the tunes and tales of the Indian sub-continent." Episode 2 - March 21nd, 2018 Episode 3 - April 4th, 2018 Episode 4 - April 18th, 2018 Episode 5 - May 2nd, 2018 Episode 6 - May 16th, 2018