Marc Pollefeys

ETH professor Marc Pollefeys leads spatial AI research, advancing computer vision and perception for robotics.

Professional profile

Marc Pollefeys is a full professor and the leader of the Computer Vision and Geometry lab at ETH Zurich, building on a distinguished academic career that includes key roles at the University of North Carolina and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. His work focuses on creating visual representations of real-world objects and scenes, transforming how machines interpret physical space.

In the industrial sector, Dr. Pollefeys directs the Microsoft Spatial AI Lab, where he leads a team developing spatial perception algorithms. This research is pivotal for AI assistants and robotics, providing the "eyes" and spatial intelligence necessary for autonomous systems to navigate and interact with complex environments. His work sits at the intersection of machine learning, robotics, and computer graphics.

A fellow of both IEEE and ACM, Dr. Pollefeys has received several prizes for his research, including a Marr prize, an NSF CAREER award, a Packard Fellowship and a European Research Council Starting Grant. He has authored over 300 publications and held leadership positions at major AI conferences like CVPR and ICCV. His mentorship has left a lasting mark, with his former students now heading AI research departments at leading universities around the world. His career continues to shape the standards for how AI understands the three-dimensional world.