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Luke Hollis

Luke Hollis

GitHub LinkedIn lhollis@g.harvard.edu

I'm a research scientist in simulation and computational robotics. I'm interested in world model development and simulation environments for embodied AGI. I create simulation environments for the Harvard Computational Robotics Group and several research groups at MIT.

I previously bootstrapped a spatial computing startup to 30 employees and engineered enterprise 3D rendering pipelines.

Outside of my research, I volunteer and practice western-style boxing.

Luke Hollis' GitHub Contribution Graph

real2sim

Convert any 3d capture into a segmented scene graph with predictive physics properties. Part of real2sim pipeline using 3dgs.

PythonNvidia IsaacSimComputational Robotics3d Capturereal2sim
4
Causal-ST

Causal-ST

Estimate causal effects from diverse multimodal spatiotemporal data streams.

PythonCausal InferenceSpatiotemporalData Science

genie-bottle: minimal implementation of Genie World Model

Reproduction of the DeepMind research paper "Genie: Generative Interactive Environments". Bruce et al. (2024).

PythonPyTorchWorld ModelsReinforcement Learning
4
3

Text-to-3D geospatial simulation with RL+LLM agents

Create a 3D world simulation with live geospatial data. Used for counterfactual analysis, training, and risk assessment.

PythonGenesisThree.jsMujoco
More projects →

SELECTED PRESS

Reuters Reuters Wired Wired Reddit Reddit Hacker News Hacker News BBC BBC CNN CNN National Geographic National Geographic The Guardian The Guardian Smithsonian Smithsonian PBS PBS Google Google OpenAI OpenAI Harvard Gazette Harvard Gazette The Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson University of Chicago University of Chicago Lonely Planet Lonely Planet Matterport Matterport Polycam Polycam Replicate Replicate LiveScience LiveScience Sharp Sharp Nerdist Nerdist Mental Floss Mental Floss Washington Post Washington Post Boston Globe Boston Globe My Modern Met My Modern Met

PUBLICATIONS

[In Progress] Predictive Real2Sim Digital Twins: A World Model Approach to Deformable Mesh and Soft-Body Simulation Physics

2026

Applying world model architectures to predictive physics simulation for deformable objects.

Research Update PDF in Progress
Heng Yang, Luke Hollis
Harvard Computational Robotics Group
In Progress
World Models Physics Simulation Digital Twins

[In Progress] Scaling Language-Grounded Splatting to Large Urban Spaces

2026

Novel approach to scale language-grounded 3D gaussian splatting techniques for large-scale urban environments.

Research Update PDF in Progress
Yasushi Sakai, Luke Hollis
MIT Media Lab & Harvard University
In Progress
3D Gaussian Splatting Computer Vision Urban Computing

Urban Planning and Design with 3D Street Captures and 360 Video

2025

Methodology for integrating immersive 3D captures into urban planning workflows.

Peter Hirshberg, Kate Connally, Lee Crawford, Luke Hollis
MIT Media Lab
Forthcoming
Urban Planning 360 Video 3D Capture
See all publications →

EXPERIENCE

2025-
Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Media Lab, IDSS, World Models, Simulation, Causal Inference
2023–2024
Fractional CTO, AI/ML Engineer, Startups
Machine Learning, Product Development, Technical Strategy
2020–2023
Research Affiliate, Harvard University
3D Reconstruction, XR, Agent-based Modeling, Computer Vision
2019–2020
Visiting Researcher / Postdoctoral Research Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Geospatial analyses, Computational Design, Human-Computer Interaction
2014–2019
Founder, Researcher, Archimedes Digital
Spatial Computing, 3D Reconstruction, Machine Learning

EDUCATION

2025-2026
Harvard University, Masters in Data Science
Harvard Kennedy School, Intelligence Project, QLab Cohort 3.0
2024
Stanford University, Graduate Coursework
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Applied Math
Research
MIT Aero/Astro, Harvard Computational Robotics, Harvard Visual Computing

ADVISORY POSITIONS

2025
Apple, iPhone Camera Team, 3d Capture
2024
IBM Almaden Research Center, Spatial Intelligence
2018-2019
Google, Artificial Intelligence (NLP) Admin, Summer of Code

AWARDS AND HONORS

2026
Research Fellowship, Harvard Kennedy School, QLab Cohort 3.0
E14 and MIT Media Lab, Beyond the Lab, IAP Cohort
2025
Sequoia Capital, Start-up Trek, selected founders from Harvard and MIT
AGI House, World Models Hackathon, 1st Place Winner
Replicate, Digital Twins Hackathon, 1st Place Winner
E14, Artificial Intelligence at MIT Summit, Mountain View
2024
Matterport Digital Twin Award, Top 10 Most Viewed Space of Year
National USS Hornet Hackathon, 1st Place Winner
AGI House, Simulations Hackathon, 1st Place Winner
2023
Matterport Digital Twin Award, Honorable Mention
2020
Graduate Research Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PRESENTATIONS AND INVITED TALKS

2025
Autonomy and Robotics, Ethics and Engineering Guest Lecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Techniques and Development in Remote Sensing, Lecture, Harvard University.
3d Capture at Stanford Campus, Part 2 of 2. Apple. Stanford University.
Language-Conditioned Simulation with Reinforcement Learning: Synthesizing Decision-Grade Digital Twins for Complex Physical Systems. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
3d Capture at Stanford Campus, Part 1 or 2. Apple. Stanford University.
2024
Generative Interactive Environments: World Models and Learning from GDM Genie. Google
2023
Synthesizing Multiple Data Imports for 3d Captures of Large Architectural Features. Università degli Studi di Pavia
Techniques and Methodologies in 3d capture and 3d Gaussian Splatting. Old Dominion University.
2022
Digitization and 3d Simulations for Large Exterior Architectural Spaces. Columbia University