PhD Social Conventions Learning in Mixed Reality
Faculty/department Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Level Master
Maximum employment Maximum of 38 hours per week (1 FTE)
Duration of contract 4 years
Salary scale €2042 to €2612 per month gross
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------JOB DESCRIPTION
As part of the COMMIT program, a vacancy position for a PhD student is available. As PhD student
you would participate in the Interaction for Universal Access project, which objective is to develop
explicit and implicit methods of “natural” interaction and support for a diverse group of citizens to
access services in their (social) environment. The work of the PhD student aims at helping citizens
(in particular people of low literacy and non-native citizens) to obtain appropriate experience to
develop skills, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours needed to overcome barriers that otherwise
hinder social engagement in a district, by representing and practicing social interaction norms and
manners in a recreated social scene.
Nowadays, citizens are expected to solve their own problems as much as possible, and, if
necessary, to take the initiative to ask for support. People who have limited Dutch language skills
(in particular non-native citizens and people of low literacy) are not fully able to meet this
expectation. However, they need these language skills as well as knowledge of social interaction
norms to achieve social engagement in the district (e.g. interacting with health, educational or
public safety institutes in a district, or solving problems between neighbours). This target group
probably requires a specific approach to persuade them to adhere to social conventions.
Persuasive technology is considered to be helpful in this respect. However, it is not clear yet how
persuasive technology should be designed for this target group.
The focus of activities is on: (1) Developing mixed reality learning environments, where users can
navigate through their district and communicate with its virtual inhabitants naturally with speechenabled user interfaces. Also, reading skills will be trained. (2). Developing situated learning in
recreated social situations by including life-like characters (avatars) in the virtual scene. (3)
Encouraging (persuading) users to actually step into the real world, carrying support tools for
applying the skills developed in the virtual world with them. This will be achieved by performing an
inclusive design process with representatives of the target group to obtain user needs,
requirements and to evaluate the learning environment.
Research questions are: (1) How can social interaction norms and manners—that help citizens to
overcome barriers that otherwise hinder social engagement in a district (e.g. interacting with
health, educational or public safety institutes in a district) — be represented in a recreated social
scene to obtain appropriate experience and skills, attitudes, knowledge and behaviours? (2) How
can life-like characters (avatars) in the virtual scene stimulate situated learning? (3) Can users be
stimulated in the virtual world to step into the real world, carrying mobile support tools? (4) How
should persuasive technology be designed for the target group of people of low literacy and nonnative citizens?
REQUIREMENTS
The work will apply a situated cognitive engineering approach, i.e. scenario- and claim-based
analysis, iterative development cycles of prototypes, focus group reviews, and empirical
evaluations of prototypes. Your responsibilities include developing several working prototypes of
the learning environment with personal assistance, and conducting the evaluations. You have a
university Master degree in the area of human-technology interaction, cognitive psychology,
cognitive science or artificial intelligence. Your performance in the Master programme can be
classified as excellent. Experience with software development for Virtual Reality and/or Personal
Assistance is an added value. You are comfortable with user-centered design, in particular
involving our target group. You will publish in renowned journals and present the research at
international congresses. The work will lead to a PhD under the supervision of Prof.dr. M.A.
Neerincx, dr. A.H.M. Cremers and dr. J.M. Kessens.
The PhD student's main base of operation will be at TNO Soesterberg.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
TU Delft offers an attractive benefits package, including a flexible work week, free high-speed
Internet access from home (with a contract of two years or longer), and the option of assembling a
customised compensation and benefits package (the 'IKA'). Salary and benefits are in accordance
with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) is known
worldwide for its high academic quality and the social relevance of its research programmes. The
faculty’s excellent facilities accentuate its international position in teaching and research. The
faculty offers an interdisciplinary setting for its 500 employees, 350 PhD students and 1700
undergraduates. Together they work on a broad range of technical innovations in the fields of
sustainable energy, telecommunications, microelectronics, embedded systems, computer and
software engineering, interactive multimedia and applied mathematics. EEMCS: Your Connection
to the Future.
The Department of Mediamatics comprises the media-oriented computer science groups in the
Faculty of EEMCS and is responsible for a major part of the Bachelor and Master programmes in
Computer Science. The department’s mission is to be internationally recognised for its excellent
researchers in the field of data processing and interpretation using model- and knowledge-based
algorithms. The department aims thus to enable man and machine, in close cooperation with their
intelligent environment, to deal with ever increasing information flows. Within the Department of
Mediamatics, the mission of the Man-Machine Interaction Group is to engineer adaptive, intelligent
systems to create intended user experiences.
TNO
The PhD student's main base of operation will be at TNO Soesterberg. TNO is an independent, notfor-profit, body with a public mission. TNO is primarily concerned with the application of knowledge
to improve the competitiveness of companies and to assist governments with policy matters. TNO
Soesterberg, is one of the main human factors laboratories worldwide. Its mission is to optimize
human performance in complex and demanding environments. Its multidisciplinary staff includes
psychologists, interaction designers, engineers, and physicists. It has extensive, advanced tools
and facilities for human-in-the-loop testing with low and high fidelity prototypes or simulations in
the lab or (remote) location.
INFORMATION AND APPLICATION
For more information about these positions, please contact Prof. Dr. M. A. Neerincx,
(mark.neerincx@tno.nl); Dr. A.H.M. Cremers, (anita.cremers@tno.nl); or Dr.ir. W.-P. Brinkman
(w.p.brinkman@tudelft.nl).
To apply, please submit the following application materials:
(1) Curriculum Vitae including contact details of references.
(2) Course lists with grades.
(3) A letter of application in which you explain both your interest and the relevance of your skills
and experience in the context of this research project.
At this stage, please do NOT submit papers or theses that you might have written. You may
submit your materials either by post to Ms. J. Eddini, Mekelweg 4, 2628 CD Delft, The
Netherlands; or by e-mail to hr-eemcs@tudelft.nl. Please send your application by 13th April 2012.
When applying for this position, please refer to vacancy number EWI2011-18.