Doctoral researcher (PhD student) in Computer Science

The successful candidate will be part of the Collaborative and Socio-Technical Systems group (COaST), which operates the VR/AR Lab (https://vrarlab.uni.lu ) with cutting-edge technology for immersive experiences. Working under Dr. Jean Botev's supervision, the candidate will engage in research within the context of the multi-disciplinary European project ChronoPilot. The H2020-funded project involves a consortium of five partner universities and focuses on controlling human time perception through stimuli delivered via mediated-reality technologies.

Although time can be measured objectively, human time perception is remarkably subjective and influenced by individual motivations, cognitive states, and social factors. In stressful conditions, we often experience a lack of time. In contrast, in more relaxing circumstances, we might lose track of time. Based on fundamental knowledge from psychology and cognitive science, ChronoPilot aims at developing a prototype technology to extend or compress human subjective time adaptively and whenever required. Mediated-reality approaches such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) have enormous potential for presenting the users with visual, auditory, and haptic stimulation patterns that directly or indirectly influence their subjective time. Going beyond individual settings, ChronoPilot will also investigate how to coordinate time plasticity in collaborative environments where one group member's actions affect the other members' perception. Different scenarios, where humans alone or humans and robots have to collaborate in realistic and virtual environments, will validate the research.

The improved understanding of the psychology of time perception and the complementing technological means to modulate time can have a profound impact on both technology and society. Time will no longer constitute a passive, constant and immutable factor; instead, it will be a novel focal point around which future socio-technical approaches related to human-human and human-machine interaction revolve.

The candidate’s tasks include:

• Mediated-reality development for prototyping and simulation of dedicated, interactive scenarios ranging from fully controlled/artificial (VR) to increasingly realistic (AR) environments
• Research on and validation of different strategies for unisensory stimuli generation and methods for balancing multisensory input
• Exploration of the modulation of subjective time perception related to visual cues and information
• Meeting regularly (physically or virtually) with other researchers in Europe
• Disseminating results through scientific publications
• Contributing to teaching and co-supervising students