arXiv subjects

Tiantian Xu

Publications and source records attributed to Tiantian Xu.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

MBD: A Model-Based Debiasing Framework Across User, Content, and Model Dimensions

Modern recommendation systems rank candidates by aggregating multiple behavioral signals through a value model. However, many commonly used signals are inherently affected by heterogeneous biases. For example, watch time naturally favors long-form content, loop rate favors short - form content, and comment probability favors videos over images. Such biases introduce two critical issues: (1) value model scores may be systematically misaligned with users' relative preferences - for instance, a seemingly low absolute like probability may represent exceptionally strong interest for a user who rarely engages; and (2) changes in value modeling rules can trigger abrupt and undesirable ecosystem shifts. In this work, we ask a fundamental question: can biased behavioral signals be systematically transformed into unbiased signals, under a user - defined notion of ``unbiasedness'', that are both personalized and adaptive? We propose a general, model-based debiasing (MBD) framework that addresses this challenge by augmenting it with distributional modeling. By conditioning on a flexible subset of features (partial feature set), we explicitly estimate the contextual mean and variance of the engagement distribution for arbitrary cohorts (e.g., specific video lengths or user regions) directly alongside the main prediction. This integration allows the framework to convert biased raw signals into unbiased representations, enabling the construction of higher-level, calibrated signals (such as percentiles or z - scores) suitable for the value model. Importantly, the definition of unbiasedness is flexible and controllable, allowing the system to adapt to different personalization objectives and modeling preferences. Crucially, this is implemented as a lightweight, built-in branch of the existing MTML ranking model, requiring no separate serving infrastructure.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

Eval-Actions: Fine-Grained Execution Quality Evaluation for Robotic Manipulation

Although Vision--Action (VA) and Vision--Language--Action (VLA) policies have advanced robotic manipulation, their evaluation remains dominated by binary success rates, which obscure process-level differences among executions that complete the same task. We introduce Eval-Actions, a diagnostic evaluation methodology and real-robot benchmark for fine-grained execution-quality assessment of learned manipulation policies. Eval-Actions combines criteria-based Expert Grading (EG), Rank-Guided (RG) labels that align measurable motion indicators with expert rankings, and Chain-of-Thought-style (CoT) annotations that explain observable quality differences. The benchmark contains 13K+ teleoperated and policy-generated real-robot episodes covering 150+ tasks and approximately 52 hours of recordings with RGB-D videos, robot-state trajectories, task descriptions, and success/failure labels. Its densely annotated subset provides EG/RG/CoT supervision for training and evaluation. We further provide AutoEval, a reference multimodal evaluator that predicts quality scores, task outcomes, and diagnostic explanations from RGB temporal evidence and compact kinematic summaries. On the annotated Eval-Actions test split, AutoEval-S achieves Spearman rank correlations (SRCCs) of 0.81 and 0.84 under EG and RG, with success detection accuracies of 90.6% and 91.0%; AutoEval-P reaches 0.70 SRCC under CoT. Analyses of expert consistency, physical-metric baselines, modality ablations, structured generalization, and offline policy ranking show that Eval-Actions provides standardized, interpretable diagnostic signals complementary to success-rate evaluation.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2025

Retentive Relevance: Capturing Long-Term User Value in Recommendation Systems

Recommendation systems have traditionally relied on short-term engagement signals, such as clicks and likes, to personalize content. However, these signals are often noisy, sparse, and insufficient for capturing long-term user satisfaction and retention. We introduce Retentive Relevance, a novel content-level survey-based feedback measure that directly assesses users' intent to return to the platform for similar content. Unlike other survey measures that focus on immediate satisfaction, Retentive Relevance targets forward-looking behavioral intentions, capturing longer term user intentions and providing a stronger predictor of retention. We validate Retentive Relevance using psychometric methods, establishing its convergent, discriminant, and behavioral validity. Through large-scale offline modeling, we show that Retentive Relevance significantly outperforms both engagement signals and other survey measures in predicting next-day retention, especially for users with limited historical engagement. We develop a production-ready proxy model that integrates Retentive Relevance into the final stage of a multi-stage ranking system on a social media platform. Calibrated score adjustments based on this model yield substantial improvements in engagement, and retention, while reducing exposure to low-quality content, as demonstrated by large-scale A/B experiments. This work provides the first empirically validated framework linking content-level user perceptions to retention outcomes in production systems. We offer a scalable, user-centered solution that advances both platform growth and user experience. Our work has broad implications for responsible AI development.

cs.IR↗

arXiv2025

Robust ISAC Transceiver Beamforming Design under Low-Resolution AD/DA Converters

In this letter, we investigate the robust beamforming design for an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system featuring low-resolution digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs). Taking into account quantization noise, we aim at maximizing the radar signal-to-quantization-plus-noise ratio (SQNR) while guaranteeing the minimum required signal-to-quantization-plus-interference-plus-noise ratio (SQINR) for communication users. To address this nonconvex design problem, we first examine a scenario involving a point target and uniform-resolution DACs, where the globally optimal solution is obtained by applying the semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique. For more general scenarios, including those with mixed-DACs and/or an extended target, we develop a low-complexity majorization-minimization (MM)-based algorithm to tackle the problem iteratively. Compared to the non-robust algorithm, the proposed algorithm demonstrates improved detection performance under practical quantization. Simulation results confirm the robustness and efficacy of our proposed algorithm in low-resolution quantization scenarios.

eess.SP↗

arXiv2025

GPA-RAM: Grasp-Pretraining Augmented Robotic Attention Mamba for Spatial Task Learning

Fine-grained robotic manipulation often fails when inaccurate initial grasps propagate errors and necessitate complex pose correction. We propose Grasp-Pretraining Augmentation (GPA), which incorporates grasp priors from task demonstrations into imitation policies without additional grasp-pose data or annotation. When added to RVT2, GPA raises the average success rate on RLBench from 79.3% to 84.2%. When added to ACT, it raises success on ALOHA cube transfer and bimanual insertion from 86% and 16% to 98% and 38%, respectively. To offset added computational costs, we develop Robotic Attention Mamba (RAM) for real-time deployment. RAM combines attention-based spatial feature extraction with state-space modeling to capture long-range dependencies efficiently. The resulting GPA-RAM framework supports discrete keyframe prediction and continuous action generation. We evaluate it on four platforms, including physical UR5 and ARX R5 systems. GPA-RAM achieves an average success rate of 87.5% on RLBench, outperforming RVT2 and ARP+ by 8.2 and 2.6 percentage points, respectively. On ALOHA, it achieves 98% success in cube transfer and 56% in bimanual insertion, improvements of 12 and 40 percentage points over ACT, while operating at approximately 71 frames per second. These results demonstrate that GPA-RAM combines precise manipulation with efficient real-time robotic execution. Code is available at https://gpa-ram.github.io/.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2020

Probing Tissue Microarchitecture of the Baby Brain via Spherical Mean Spectrum Imaging

During the first years of life, the human brain undergoes dynamic spatially-heterogeneous changes, involving differentiation of neuronal types, dendritic arborization, axonal ingrowth, outgrowth and retraction, synaptogenesis, and myelination. To better quantify these changes, this article presents a method for probing tissue microarchitecture by characterizing water diffusion in a spectrum of length scales, factoring out the effects of intra-voxel orientation heterogeneity. Our method is based on the spherical means of the diffusion signal, computed over gradient directions for a fixed set of diffusion weightings (i.e., b-values). We decompose the spherical mean series at each voxel into a spherical mean spectrum (SMS), which essentially encodes the fractions of spin packets undergoing fine- to coarse-scale diffusion processes, characterizing hindered and restricted diffusion stemming respectively from extra- and intra-neurite water compartments. From the SMS, multiple orientation distribution invariant indices can be computed, allowing for example the quantification of neurite density, microscopic fractional anisotropy ($μ$FA), per-axon axial/radial diffusivity, and free/restricted isotropic diffusivity. We show maps of these indices for baby brains, demonstrating that microscopic tissue features can be extracted from the developing brain for greater sensitivity and specificity to development related changes. Also, we demonstrate that our method, called spherical mean spectrum imaging (SMSI), is fast, accurate, and can overcome the biases associated with other state-of-the-art microstructure models.

physics.med-ph↗