Research Assistant – Human Computer Interfaces
Post Duration 20 Months
A Research Assistant is sought for a 20 month period to work on ‘Tabletop, Mobile and Interactive Surfaces”, a funded research project and based in UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics with Dr. Aaron Quigley based in the Complex and Adaptive Systems Laboratory. NOTE: The formal advertisement for this will go online in the coming weeks so I will update this post with links to the UCD advertisement and application process then.
This project forms the first part of a phased program of research exploring the role of tabletop computing along with coupled public and private displays in rehabilitation, gaming and computer supported corporative work. The research assistant is expected to explore questions posed by the project lead and other team members. A large component of this post will be the development of research prototypes, using off the shelf development toolkits along with contributing to our open source developments in this area. Strong programming skills along with the ability to work with software and hardware co-design. The research assistant is further expected to support and maintain the tabletop physical hardware systems in place within the CASL along with developing new forms of system as called upon in the course of this research.
Recent developments have seen the wide spread proliferation of both large shared displays and small display technologies. In parallel we have seen the emergence of new classes of device which support both touch or multi touch interaction. Examples of small touch driven devices include PDAs, Tablets and iPhones and examples of large interactive surfaces (mutli-touch driven displays) include the Diamondtouch and Microsoft Surface Computing. Interactive surfaces offer great potential for face-to-face work and social interaction and provide natural ways to directly manipulate virtual objects whereas small devices afford the individual a personal workspace or “scratch space” to formulate ideas before bringing them to a wider audience. Advanced visual interfaces can be built around a combination of both private and public touch driven displays. Such computer mediated multi-device interaction between local touch-driven displays and shared public ones presents a number of novel and challenging research problems.
The Research Assistant will work under the direction of the Project Leader, Dr Aaron Quigley. Candidates for the position must have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or Computer Engineering. Demonstrated experience with hardware or image or video processing is a plus. The post would suit an exceptional recent graduate or a graduate with 1-3 years development experience. Given the highly specialised nature of this research, candidates are not expected to have development experience with tabletop or surface computing, however demonstrated experience with the development of novel or exceptional user interfaces is a plus.
Candidates should have very good research skills, an ability to work independently to a tight schedule, and experience in writing and editing reports. The appointment may begin on the 1st of June 2009. The project will be managed by Dr. Aaron Quigley and collaborations with CLARITY researchers may form part of this project going forward. The annual salary for this post is €26,000 – €29,000 per annum.
Please note that although the job is based in Dublin there will be opportunities to travel for conferences and collaborative activities elsewhere (travel and accommodation provision will be made for this.)
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
- Responsible for the development of demonstrator or proof of concept prototypes will tabletop systems.
- Responsible for maintenance, support and development of the tabletop hardware systems in this project.
- Responsible for developing high quality code (suitable for open source release), as well as stand-alone proof-of-concepts and prototypes on mobile platforms (eg. iPhone).
- Responsible for developing multi-device (coupled) applications software and robust prototypes.
- Writing standards-compliant APIs.
- Work with other team members, including postgraduate, postdoctoral and researchers as directed by the project lead.
Selection Criteria
Mandatory
- Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or Computer
Engineering. - Strong programming skills.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Strong understanding of interfaces.
- The ablity to adapt to changing priorities and to thrive in a fast-paced work environment.
- Fluency in the English language.
Desirable
- Experience with hardware or image or video processing.
- Understanding of basics of Usability, Human Computer Interaction, and Design Guidelines.