Alvaro Villegas

Videos

A short video is worth 1k images (and hence 10k words)...

Tapas in Mars (Distributed Reality)

DRoom (Real Haptics)

Hybrid Conference (Immersive Comm)

Immersive cockpit (Teleoperated Driving)

Horse Therapy (Immersive Comm)

Remote Teacher (Immersive Comm)

Immersive Video Event (Immersive Comm)

Volcano (Distributed Reality)

XaRaoke (Distributed Reality)

DRictionary (undefined)

... although I still use words for my talks in different forums

Bell Labs Spain launch (ES)

Immersive Music Therapy 5G (ES)

Industrial XR (ES)

Training with Distributed Reality (EN)

5G Telepresence (ES)

White Mirror: technology for Good (ES)

The Realverse (ES)

Publications

2024

[1] Alvaro Villegas, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Juan Torres, The Owl: Virtual Teleportation through XR (Demo), IEEE VR demo

[2] G. Salcedo, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Diego González, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Do You XaRaoke?: Immersive Realistic Singing Experience with Embodied Singer, IEEE VR 2024 poster

[3] Diego González, D. Medda, A. Iossifides, P.Chatzimision, A. García-Armada, Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, An eXtended Reality Offloading IP Traffic Dataset and Models, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing

[4] Amaya Jiménez, Baldomero Rodríguez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Context-Aware Remote User Placement for Immersive 360 Communications, IEEE AIxVR 2024

2023

[5] Diego González, M.J.Lopez Morales, Pablo Perez, A.García Armada, Alvaro Villegas, FikoRE: 5G and Beyond RAN Emulator for Application Level Experimentation and Prototyping, IEEE Networks Magazine

[6] Diego González, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Full Body Video-based Self-Avatars for Mixed Reality: from E2E System to User Study, Virtual Reality Springer

2022

[7] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Guillermo, Diego González, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Real Time Egocentric Object Segmentation for Mixed Reality: THU-READ Labeling and Benchmarking Results, IEEE VR Data4XR 2022 Workshop

[8] Diego González, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Bringing Real Body as Self-Avatar into Mixed Reality: A Gamified Volcano Experience, IEEE VR 2022 Poster

[9] Alvaro Villegas, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Ignacio Benito, Immersive Telepresence for Education and Training, CHI 2022 Workshop

2021

[10] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Diego González, Alvaro Villegas, Subjective Evaluation of Egocentric Human Segmentation for Mixed Reality, IEEE AI VR 2021

[11] Pablo Perez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Redouane Kachach, Francisco Pereira, Alvaro Villegas, Ecological Validity through Gamification: an Experiment with a Mixed Reality Escape Room, IEEE AI VR 2021

[12] Redouane Kachach, Sandra Morcuende, Diego González, Pablo Perez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Francisco Pereira, Alvaro Villegas, The Owl: Immersive Telepresence Communication for Hybrid Conferences, ISMAR 2021

[13] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, G.Robledo, Diego González, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Real Time Egocentric Object Segmentation: THU-READ Labeling and Benchmarking Result, CVPRw 2021

[14] Redouane Kachach, Marta Orduña, Jesús Rodríguez, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Julián Cabrera, Narciso García, Immersive Telepresence in Remote Education , MMVE 2021

[15] Redouane Kachach, Diego González, Francisco Pereira, Pablo Perez, Ignacio Benito, Jaime Ruiz, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Alvaro Villegas, A Multi-Peer, Low Cost Immersive Communication System for Pandemic Times, IEEE VR 2021

2020

[16] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Rubén Tolosana, Redouane Kachach, Alvaro Villegas, Enhanced Self-Perception in Mixed Reality: Egocentric Arm Segmentation and Database with Automatic Labelling, IEEE Access 2020

[17] Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, Redouane Kachach, Francisco Pereira, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Realistic training in VR using physical manipulation, CVPR Workshop on Computer Vision for Mixed Reality

[18] Andrija Gajic, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Diego González, Marcos Escudero, Alvaro Villegas, Egocentric Human Segmentation for Mixed Reality, CVPR Workshop on Egocentric Perception, Interaction and Computing

[19] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Diego González, Andrija Gajic, Marcos Escudero, Alvaro Villegas, Pixel-Wise Labelling of RGB-D THU-READ dataset, CVPR Workshop on Egocentric Perception, Interaction and Computing, AMT proposals

[20] Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, Redouane Kachach, Francisco Pereira, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, DRoom: a gamified demonstration of Real Haptics technology, IEEE VR 2020 demo track

[21] Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, Redouane Kachach, Francisco Pereira, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Realistic training in VR using physical manipulation, IEEE VR 2020 Training XR workshop

[22] Redouane Kachach, Pablo Perez, Alvaro Villegas, Virtual Tour: An Immersive Low Cost Telepresence System, IEEE VR 2020 Workshop on Virtual Conferencing

[23] Sergio Serra, Redouane Kachach, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Alvaro Villegas, Natural User Interfaces for Mixed Reality: Controlling Virtual Objects with your Real Hands, IEEE VR 2020 Poster

[24] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Ignacio Benito, Pablo Perez, Redouane Kachach, Jaime Ruiz, Alvaro Villegas, Audience Meter: a Use Case of Deploying Machine Learning Algorithms over 5G Networks with MEC, ICCE (Deep Learning and New Platforms)

2019

[25] Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Towards a Distributed Reality: a multi-video approach to xR (short paper), MMVE 2019

[26] Pablo Perez, Narciso García, Alvaro Villegas, Subjective Assessment of Adaptive Media Playout for Video Streaming, International Conference on Quality of Multimedia Experience (QoMEX)

[27] Pablo Perez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Redouane Kachach, Jaime Ruiz, Francisco Pereira, Ignacio Benito, Alvaro Villegas, Immersive Gastronomic Experience with Distributed Reality , IEEE International Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality

2018

[28] Pablo Perez, Nuria Oyaga, Jaime Ruiz, Alvaro Villegas, Towards systematic analysis of cybersickness in high motion omnidirectional video, International Conference on Quality of Multimedia Experience (QoMEX)

[29] Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Perez, Redouane Kachach, Jaime Ruiz, Alvaro Villegas, Towards Self-Perception in Augmented Virtuality: Hand Segmentation with Fully Convolutional Networks, EUROGRAPHICS Poster

[30] Pablo Perez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Redouane Kachach, Jaime Ruiz, Alvaro Villegas, A Drink in Mars: an Approach to Distributed Reality, EUROGRAPHICS Poster

[31] Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, Jaime Ruiz, Javier López-Poncela, Scalable monitoring of end-to-end delay in live video services, IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics

2012

[32] Alvaro Villegas, Pablo Perez, José María Cubero, Enrique Estalayo, Narciso García, Network assisted content protection architectures for a connected world, Bell Labs Technical Journal

[33] Marcel Mampaey, Alvaro Villegas, A network-centric DRM for online scenarios, Bell Labs Technical Journal

[34] Pablo Perez, Jaime Ruiz, Alvaro Villegas, Karel Van Damme, Christian Van Boven, Joel Dupont, Multi-vendor video headend convergence solution, Bell Labs Technical Journal

1995

[35] Manuel Leandro, Alvaro Villegas, José Manuel Pardo, Efficient Isolated Word Recognition In Spanish Based On Static Modeling, Fourth European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology

1994

[36] Javier Macías-Guarasa, Manuel Leandro, José Colás, Alvaro Villegas, Santiago Aguilera, José Manuel Pardo, On the development of a dictation machine for Spanish: DIVO, ISCLP

Google Scholar

Patents

Ideas deserve protection

[1] Personalized Perceptual Video Encoder for Mission-Critical Tasks, EPO ID 21382799.1

[2] Semantic adaptation of live video lag, EPO ID 17382641.3

[3] Content-Aware Client Buffer Reduction For Low Lag Video, EPO ID 16382599.5

[4] Opportunistic Switching Between LTE Unicast And Broadcast Video Service, EPO ID 15/436809

[5] Method and device for transmission of video content, EPO ID 16382229.9

[6] Dynamic Quality Of Experience Improvement In Media Content Streaming, EPO ID 15382340.6

[7] Method And Server For Improving Quality In Adaptive Streaming Delivery Systems, EPO ID 15382342.2

[8] Method and server for the storage of multimedia content and its delivery in adaptive streaming systems, EPO ID 15382073.3

[9] Method And Device For Distributing File Requests In Adaptive Streaming Systems, EPO ID 15382075.8

[10] Method, System And Devices For Multimedia Content Delivery Using Adaptive Streaming, EPO ID 13382068.8

[11] Method, system and devices for multimedia content delivery using adaptive streaming, EPO ID 13382068.8

[12] Method, System and Devices for Multimedia Delivering in Content Delivery Networks, EPO ID 12382223.1

[13] Method, System and Devices for Improved Content Delivery, EPO ID 12382224.9

[14] Method, System And Devices For Content Caching And Delivering In Ip Networks, EPO ID 12382486.4

[15] Method, System and Devices for Improved Adaptive Streaming of Media Content, EPO ID 12382006.0

[16] Content delivering method, EPO ID 11382213.4

[17] Method for authorising, EPO ID 11382180.5

[18] Multimedia Content Broadcast Procedure, EPO ID 10382080.9

[19] Virtual Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) for IPTV, EPO ID 09382017.3

[20] Method And Device For Ensuring Reliability During Transmission Of Television Data In A Television System Based On Internet Protocol, EPO ID 09382001.7

[21] Virtual customer premises equipment, EPO ID 09382017.3

[22] Method and device for authorising access to data, EPO ID 08305647.3

[23] Delivering System of Content on Demand, EPO ID 08382016.7

[24] Intelligent Wrapping Of Video Content To Lighten Downstream Processing Of Video Streams, EPO ID 07291476.5

Events

Sharing our work with the world

[May 1, 2025] 5GForum 2025 Once year more XRLab was the representation of Nokia Spain in the most relevant event around 5G in Spain, where the whole national ecosystem gets together. A talk by Jaime Ruiz and a booth with several demos (AR in ports/unviersity and multi-site teleporation wit the Owl) provided a good view of our power in 5G/6G. Fair attendance was larger than ever, and a lot of networking was done.

[Mar 4, 2024] STEM day 2025 One year more Nokia Spain organized a session for promoting STEM careers among kids. Around 70 teenagers (employees' sons and daughters) were invited to participate. XRLab collaborated with a workshop called "Architects of the Metaverse", where kids had the opportunity to edit themselves a virtual environment and then experience a walk through the resulting scenario using VR goggles (with final surprise). It was very instructive and they had a lot of fun.

[Sep 1, 2024] IEEE PIMRC conference This was our first attendance to the Personal Indoor and Mobile Radio Communication conference, which took place in Valencia. We leveraged the opportunity to demonstrate the latest versions of our immersive communication (Owl) and the AR monitoring app, and do dissemination of several of the related projects.

[Jun 1, 2024] EuCNC 2024 EuCNC is the yearly event where all EU SNS projects meet to share experiences and results, and the EU comission can have a first-hand view of the progress. Nokia was a prime sponsor this year, with a large booth organized by Bell Labs. XRLab was also present with demos in the booths of the two EU projects we are running (6GSANDBOX and IMAGINE-B5G): a mixed reality monitoring of a real 5G deployment and a teleporting demo with Snowl, which happened to be great success.

[May 3, 2024] Telefonica Innovation Day One year more the XRLab team was present in the event that Nokia organizes at Telefonica headquarters to show our latest innovations, that anyone in TEF can see in person. This time we brought two official demonstrations (the fire extinguisher from COMODIA and the Augmented Reality 5G monitoring from 5GNaCAR) but we also added some surprise demos: the Owl (already with Snowl device), avatar positioning, spatial barbershop and karaoke. Success and great feedback, with queues of people waiting to try out!

[May 4, 2024] Treasure Hunt at Colegio Base A new collaboration with Colegio Base, this time to do a field test of our Owl for a remote collaboration use case. We shaped it as an Escape Run, and we ran it with 12 teams of teenagers, 2 remotes (with VR goggles) in each team. Good feeling, interesting results and probably the seed for a richer XR Escape Room design!

[May 1, 2024] 5GForum 2024 This year Nokia XRLab had a very strong participation in 5GForum, the most relevant event in Spain for the 5G ecosystem. Jaime Ruiz gave a talk about 5GNaCAR, and the team brought demos from most of the active innovation projects we have: Fire Extinguisher, Network As Code, the Owl (with Snowl already), our new Spatial Barbershop, the Avatars Autoplacement and even the XaRaoke. Good feedback received and, as usual, good networking.

[Apr 3, 2024] Visit from FJ23 users We received in the XRLab area of Nokia Spain the visit of a group of people from Fundación Juan XXIII, with which we have multiple collaborations. It was great to meet them in person, and they also had a great time with the demos that we had prepared for them. An event that will stay in our memories for a long time!

[Apr 2, 2024] Seminar at UAM One year more the UAM (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid) invited us to give a seminar about innovation to a selection of students of the Image Processing and Computer Vision master. Alvaro Villegas provided an overview of the different paths to do innovation in the industry, and a description of the success story of XRLab. We hope this will contribute to help them find their way in the professional life they are starting

[Mar 1, 2024] IEEEVR Conference We participated in the IEEEVR conference in Orlando, with some posters and demos. Our Owl prototype provided the visitors of our demo with their very first teleporting experience, and in some cases seasoned with a disturbing out-of-body experience. It was very encouraging to see the good reception of our immersive communication concept based on video in such a relevant forum. Most people confirmed the potential, provided feedback and additional ideas; the application field seems to be endless.

Contact

Until our XR technology is ready you will have to use this old-fashioned mechanism

My Location

I currently live in Madrid, Spain.
I work in Nokia Spain, also in Madrid.
I also lived and worked in Munich, Germany.
And I love Málaga, the best place to live in Europe.

Alvaro Villegas

Innovation Architect, Nokia XR Lab

Innovating for Human Communications

Profile

Research

Agenda