Open position: PhD Studentship
The Imperial College London is looking for a PhD student to work within the Audio Experience Design team at the Dyson School of Design Engineering (Imperial College London).
This PhD programme will contribute to the ecosystem created by the SONICOM FET EU-Funded project, which aims at transforming auditory-based social interaction and communication in AR/VR.
The student’s main supervisor will be Lorenzo Picinali, with the external contribution/supervision of Michele Geronazzo from the University of Udine.
The research will focus on exploring and assessing training/accommodation to synthetic localisation cues within Augmented Reality (AR) scenarios and tasks. Head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) capture the direction-dependant way that sound interacts with the head and torso. In virtual/augmented audio systems, which aim to emulate these effects, non-individualized, generic HRTFs are typically used leading to an inaccurate perception of virtual sound location. Training has the potential to exploit the brain’s ability to adapt to these unfamiliar cues. Research has been done looking at how such training can improve localisation when using non-individualised or altered HRTFs within real and virtual environments and tasks.
Ideal candidate
We are looking for candidates with a strong technical background in computer science and statistical analysis – experience with artificial intelligence and machine learning is very desirable.
In addition, we are seeking candidates with a good understanding of acoustics and digital signal processing techniques.
Experience with the following would be an advantage:
- Development of immersive VR/AR applications
- Running perceptual evaluations with human participants
- Research experiments in psychoacoustics and hearing science
Important information
Country: UK
Partner: Imperial College London
Contract type: Full time (42 months)
Application deadline: 31 March 2021
Submit your application here
