Recruitment of three PhD students on: User Experience Improvement Methodologies for Virtual Experiences

EON Reality, the world’s leading provider of Virtual Reality software, systems, and applications, and Arts et Metiers ParisTech, Presence & innovation team today announce they will be recruiting three students for their combined Virtual Reality R&D endeavor.

With the ambition to study the improvement conditions that in the future will define the immersive Virtual Reality experience.

These doctoral theses (PhD diploma) will be in Laval, France, one of the worlds leading academic and entrepreneurial hubs for Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality, they will be three year contracts, and will provide access to leading resources and data in the field, the scientific supervision will be run by Simon Richir (MEng, PhD Professor) of  Arts et Metiers ParisTech.

Three complementary challenges will be conducted, on the following subject matter:

Thesis 1: Determine the set of factors that can influence the user experience, and the mechanisms of interaction among these factors in immersive systems;

Thesis 2:Formalize and evaluate a methodology to design systems (hardware) that promote Virtual Reality User Experience;

Thesis 3:Formalize and evaluate a methodology for co-creating 3D interactive content that fosters User Experience.

These three doctoral theses (PhD diploma) will begin simultaneously, each is focused on one research issue among those outlined above. The work will be done in Laval (France) at the heart of the Virtual Reality international pole (www.laval-virtual.org) where Eon Reality just created its global edutainment hub.

Thesis 1: Determine the set of factors that bear influence the user experience, and the mechanisms of interaction among these factors in immersive systems;

These factors will be determined and classified into 3 types: Virtual Reality system factors, factors related to 3D content and factors related to the use of 3D content within the Virtual Reality system. The aim of this research is to advance knowledge about the induction process of the Presence and User Experience. The contributions of this work may in particular allow characterizing the User Experience from specific and measurable factors.

Thesis 2: Formalize and evaluate a methodology to design systems (hardware) that promote Virtual Reality User Experience;

The aim of thesis 2 is to formalize and evaluate a methodology for designing Virtual Reality systems from the factors that influence user experience (Virtual Reality system factors and factors related to the use of 3D content within the Virtual Reality system). Research experiments will be carried out using EON Reality systems, such as the iDome or the iCube.

Thesis 3: Formalize and evaluate a methodology for co-creating 3D interactive content that fosters Virtual Reality User Experience.

Determine the best set of 3D content factors that enhance the immersive Virtual Reality experience and factors that influence the use of 3D content within the Virtual Reality system. Research experiments will be carried out using applications and 3D and content produced by EON Reality as well as hardware (both in Laval and globally).

All three thesis will collaborate, and cross fertilize each other, aiming to produce a comprehensive global integrated methodology.

The global methodology developed in the context of this research may become an integrated methodology in the development of EON products and will allow the company to optimize its future development projects.

Profile of PhD candidates

The three Phd students will form a multidisciplinary and complementary team. They will work together both in the lab and in the company. They can be French or come from another country. They are graduates of a Master or equivalent. They’ll benefit from a 3 years contract from Arts et Metiers ParisTech (Thesis #1) or from Eon Reality (Thesis #2 & #3).  One thesis will be financed by Arts et Metiers ParisTech, Presence & innovation team, LAMPA Lab EA1427 (Thesis 1), and two theses will be financed by EON Reality under the CIFRE procedure (Theses 2 and 3).

For the Thesis #1, we are searching for an engineer or Master graduate with expertise in ergonomics / psychology or equivalent.

For the Thesis #2, we are searching for an engineer or Master graduate with expertise in electronic and mechanical engineering or equivalent.

For the Thesis #3, we are searching for an engineer or Master graduate with expertise in Virtual Reality and 3D modeling or equivalent.

An experience in Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality or videogaming would be appreciated.

Contact

If you are interested by one of these subjects, please send a motivation email & your CV to Yann Froger, EON France director, Jan Kjallstrom, VP Product Development, Simon Richir, Professor at Arts et Metiers ParisTech, via [email protected]

Important dates

Submissions open till  September 15th

Phd could start on October 2014