Perception is at the center of our research, as it informs our work in audio displays, rendering, and practically everything else. As a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the audio team at Oculus Research in Redmond WA, you’ll be tackling the scientific challenges that define cutting-edge virtual and augmented reality, addressing heretofore-unanswered questions in psychoacoustics and perceptual psychology. This involves both applied and basic science, as they inform our research directions and identify opportunities for revolutionary experiences. We’re committed to a whole-system, multidisciplinary approach to perceptual research, and both collaborate with academic institutions and publish in peer-reviewed journals. Projects take advantage of internal resources in mechanical, electrical, optical, and software engineering, allowing us to address scientific questions which cannot be addressed with existing equipment. The position is a fixed-term (postdoctoral) contract for 24 months and requires a PhD in psychoacoustics, perceptual psychology, acoustics, or related field.
Responsibilities
- Research into psychoacoustics, spatial auditory perception and human factors, both in terms of basic science and how it informs other research and product directions.
- Collaborate with both internal teams and academia in research to explore perceptual factors, define limits and specifications, and discover opportunities for revolutionary improvement in virtual and augmented reality audio systems.
- Explore opportunities and requirements to create new virtual experiences and perform research necessary to deliver them.
- Collaborate with other researchers, interns, and engineers to identify and develop experimental systems which allow us to answer novel research questions, involving factors both in isolation and as part of an ecologically valid complete system.
Minimum Qualification
- PhD and/or postdoctoral assignment in psychoacoustics, perceptual psychology, cognitive science, or related field
- Graduating with a PhD by summer 2017, or completing a university postdoctoral assignment
- 3+ years experience with human auditory system(s) and developing predictive computational models of perceptual and behavioral responses
- Specialization in spatial audio, head-related transfer functions, auditory perception, dynamic observer modeling and similar fields
- 3+ years experience with experimental methodology, psychophysics, and/or related statistical analysis
- Interpersonal skills: cross-group and cross-culture collaboration
- Able to obtain work authorization in the US for a two-year period beginning in 2017
Preferred Qualifications
- 3+ years experience with MATLAB, R, Python, and/or C++
- 2+ years experience with user studies (psychophysics) and human factors
- 2+ years experience with the design or analysis of optical and/or stereoscopic display systems
- Proven track record of achieving significant results as demonstrated by first-authored conference publications or journal articles at Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Audio Engineering Society (AES), International conference of auditory displays (ICAD), Journal of Acoustical Society of America (JASA), Frontiers in Neuroscience, Applied Acoustics, Acta Acoustica United with Acustica