PhD on Responsible XR Design for Young Children

Are you excited about shaping the future of child-appropriate XR?

Do you have a strong technical and/or design background working with extended-reality technologies and want to work on novel, child-appropriate forms of multisensory XR? Then we are looking for you!

We are hiring a technically strong, creative, and socially motivated PhD candidate to join our collaboration between Eindhoven University of Technology and Institut Polytechnique de Paris for a 4-year research position that bridges child-computer interaction, computer science, design, and games research.

Information
Currently available extended reality (XR) technology is not suited for young children: commercial headsets are too heavy for the developing body, immersive experiences can over-immerse and disengage children from their surroundings, and unethical designs can distort children’s sense for reality. This project will investigate these and other child-specific risk factors and work on eliminating them by developing a novel kind of child-appropriate XR that works without displays or headsets.

Therefore, we invite highly motivated candidates with a background in human-computer interaction (HCI), child-computer interaction (CCI), computer science, extended reality (XR), or design to apply for a PhD position in the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). As part of the EuroTech PhD program, you will be supervised by Dr. Sebastian Cmentowski, TU/e, Prof. Panos Markopoulos, TU/e, and Dr. Daniel Pires de Sé Medeiro, IP Paris. This position will include a 6-months research visit at the DIVA group, Télécom Paris, and opportunities to collaborate with international partners.

The PhD project will bridge child-centered design with technological innovation. After exploring how current XR technology introduces child-specific risk factors and ethical challenges, you will formalize and address children’s and parents’ needs and priorities towards responsible XR design. Specifically, you will explore how the strong visual focus of XR experiences can be substituted with other modalities and senses, such as wearable haptics, audio, and gestures, to reduce the risk of over-immersion and disengagement from physical and social surroundings. The resulting non-visual interaction concepts will be co-designed together with children and other stakeholders, implemented for different design cases, and evaluated in user studies.

Your Role:

• Understand how current XR technology fails to serve young children but induces novel risk factors
• Explore ethical implications and requirements towards future XR experiences for children
• Develop natural, multi-sensory interaction paradigms that do not rely on screens or visual information
• Prototype and evaluate
• Design and conduct user studies with children, families, and professionals
• Prototype and evaluate multimodal interfaces for inclusive co-creation
• Collaborate with our collaboration partners at IP Paris, including a 6-month research visit.
• Publish in top-tier venues (CHI, CHIPLAY, IDC, TOCHI, etc.)

• A master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Industrial Design, or a related field
• A research-oriented attitude (accountable, visionary, ethical, collaborative, curious,…)
• An engineering-oriented attitude (can-do, will-build, has-tested,…)
• Strong programming skills (e.g., C#, Python) and/or experience in game/XR development (e.g., Unity)
• Ability to work independently and in interdisciplinary teams
• Excellent communication and ability to meet deadlines
• Affinity/interest for research and/or co-design studies involving children
• Fluent in spoken and written English (C1 level)

In addition, the following are appreciated:

• Experience with multimodal interaction (e.g., gesture, gaze, speech)
• Background/affinity in psychology, education technologies, or interaction design
• Fluency in Dutch (particularly spoken), fluency in French

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate assessment after nine months. You will spend a minimum of 10% of your four-year employment on teaching tasks, with a maximum of 15% per year of your employment.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. € 3,059 - max. € 3,881).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• Unlimited access to the modern on‑campus TU/e Student Sports Center at an exceptionally affordable rate, for you and, if applicable, your partner.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact the hiring manager Sebastian Cmentowski, s.cmentowski@tue.nl.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact HRServices.ID@tue.nl.

Curious to hear more about what it’s like as a PhD candidate at TU/e? Please view the video.

Are you inspired and would like to know more about working at TU/e? Please visit our career page.