PhD Position Immersive Lab

TU Delft together with Erasmus have created the Immersive AI Lab. Here, we want to help unlock more of the potential of immersive technologies by exploring fundamental questions and innovative application contexts. Our goal is to gain insights that are generally applicable, while simultaneously opting for concrete outcomes that can make a difference in a domain today.
The Immersive AI Lab will be structured around several projects to transform various sectors through AI, data, and digitalization. In total, four PhD students are part of the Lab besides the involved directors; Ting Li (Erasmus) and Elmar Eisemann (TU Delft).
We are looking for up to two new PhD students in Computer Graphics and Visualization, who will be hosted at TU Delft with Prof. Eisemann as the main supervisor, covering the topics of Immersive Data Visualization and Virtual Environments, as outlined below.
Virtual Environments.
Creating virtual environments is an important challenge for Immersive Technology. Especially, the difficulty of connecting real and virtual environments is often overlooked. An important challenge constitutes the integration of real-world elements, especially at large scale, that properly interact with the virtual content. For architectural contexts and cultural heritage applications, such solutions would be very important. To capture real-world content, we rely on procedural generative AI methods linked to real-world data and AI-based scene representations (NERFs, Gaussian Splatting…). An important aspect is the appearance of objects and simulated light interactions will be considered by developing novel solutions for image synthesis driven by real-world data, involving resources, such as weather conditions, time of the day etc. The next step is to fit such large virtual representations into an actual limited physical navigation space to generate the illusion of actually being present in these locations.
The project will benefit from contacts to the faculty of architecture, as well as the Delft Science Center.
Immersive Data Visualization.
The use of VR/AR for visualization is still in its infancy, yet the potential is high. Scientific visualization has received most attention in this context, as the data often relates to real-world objects, where AR technology is very promising. An almost untapped area is to integrate observer information captured by the device to adapt visualization solutions. An example is cognitive load (which can be measured via eye tracking/pupillometry). Additionally, the depth perception in such devices reduces the load for the interpretation of 3D datasets. Yet, while interactions in a 2D domain are well explored, user interaction in 3D spaces requires new paradigms. We envision that a methodology relying on novel modalities (e.g., gaze trackers and 3D controllers) combined with ML-based analysis to adapt the interaction in an intelligent way to the data will be of high benefit. This project will make first important steps in exploring VR/AR in the context of Data Visualization.
While we target fundamental findings, the planned projects connect to concrete partners and targets, including collaboration with musea for fine-arts analysis and the medical domain.

Requirements:

• You are talented and enthusiastic.
• You have good communication skills.
• You are familiar with C++, OpenGL, and/or GPU programming.
• You are a team player and able/willing to supervise students related to the project.
• You have a good command of the English language (knowledge of Dutch is not required).
• You have experience with or a background in computer graphics/image processing/VR technology. Preferably you finished a master in the specialty of Computer Graphics in Computer Science, additionally, you might qualify with a different technical diploma (e.g., (Applied) Mathematics, (Applied) Physics or Electrical Engineering), in which case graphics experience is a bonus.

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Salary Benefits:

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.
Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2872 per month in the first year to € 3670 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.
The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.
For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

38 - 40 hours per week

Mekelweg 2