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Ruizhi Cheng


Research Collaborator

Meta Platforms Inc.

Menlo Park, CA, USA


Email: ruizhicheng [at] meta [dot] com
[Google Scholar] [LinkedIn] [Github]

Introduction

I am currently a Research Collaborator at Meta Platforms Inc., where I work on building next-generation network infrastructure to support human–GenAI interaction (launched in Meta’s core applications, such as Meta AI, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger). I am completing my Ph.D. in Computer Science, luckily advised by Dr. Bo Han. Before that, I earned my B.S. degree in Computer Science in 2021.

My current research focuses on building large-scale, learning-based, real-time intelligent networked systems for emerging communication paradigms such as immersive telepresence and human–GenAI interaction. I also have extensive experience in security & privacy and human-computer interaction (HCI).

I have been the first author of several papers on a wide range of topics published in top-tier conferences, including bandwidth-conserving immersive telepresence (ACM SenSys 2024), privacy-preserving user authentication in VR with federated learning (ACM SenSys 2024), network measurement study on commercial social VR (ACM IMC 2022), immersive telepresence (ACM IMC 2024), real-time GenAI calling (ACM IMC 2025) platforms, and the deployment of a real-world VR-based online education system (IEEE VR 2024). I received the Best Paper Award from IEEE MetaBuild 2022 and the Best Paper Runner-up Award from ACM SenSys 2024.

Selected Publications

Publications marked with * indicate acceptance at top-tier conferences (per CSRankings).
For a complete list of my publications, please visit my Google Scholar and DBLP profiles.

[ACM IMC 2025 (*)]  PDF
Ruizhi Cheng, Guowu Xie, Matteo Varvello, Songqing Chen, Bo Han. "Hello, GenAI? Dissecting Human to Generative AI Calling"

[ACM SenSys 2024 (*)]  PDF
Ruizhi Cheng, Nan Wu, Vu Le, Eugene Chai, Matteo Varvello, Bo Han. "MagicStream: Bandwidth-conserving Immersive Telepresence via Semantic Communication" [Best Paper Runner-up]

[ACM SenSys 2024 (*)]  PDF
Ruizhi Cheng, Yuetong Wu, Ashish Kundu, Hugo Latapie, Myungjin Lee, Songqing Chen, Bo Han. "MetaFL: Privacy-preserving User Authentication in Virtual Reality with Federated Learning"

[ACM IMC 2024 (*)]  PDF
Ruizhi Cheng*, Nan Wu*, Matteo Varvello, Eugene Chai, Songqing Chen, Bo Han. "A First Look at Immersive Telepresence on Apple Vision Pro"
*: Equal contribution.

[IEEE VR 2024 (*)]  PDF  Code
Ruizhi Cheng, Erdem Murat, Lap-Fei Yu, Songqing Chen, Bo Han. "Understanding Online Education in Metaverse: Systems and User Experience Perspectives"

[ACM HotNets 2023]  PDF
Ruizhi Cheng, Nan Wu, Bo Han. "Enriching Telepresence with Semantic-driven Holographic Communication"

[ACM IMC 2022 (*)]  PDF  Code
Ruizhi Cheng, Nan Wu, Matteo Varvello, Songqing Chen, Bo Han. "Are We Ready for Metaverse? A Measurement Study of Social Virtual Reality Platforms"

[IEEE Metabuild 2022]  PDF  Slides  Errata
Ruizhi Cheng, Nan Wu, Songqing Chen, Bo Han. "Reality Check of Metaverse: A First Look at Commercial Social Virtual Reality Platforms"
[Best Paper Runner-up]

Industrial Experience

  • Meta Platforms Inc. - Research Collaborator. July 2025 - Current
  • Bell Labs - Networking Research Intern. June - Aug 2024

Professional Services

Technical Program Committee
ACM ImmerCom 2024

Review
IEEE VR 2023, ACM UbiComp 2023/2024, IEEE ISMAR 2024/2025, IEEE MetaCom 2024
ACM Transactions on Graphics, IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, IEEE Network, IEEE MultiMedia, SAGE Open, Virtual Reality, ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, ACM SIGCOMM CCR, IEEE Communication, IEEE Communication Letters

Last Updated: 08/2025 | Template from Chenning Li