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PhD Studentship "Gaze and Gesture in Human-Agent-Interaction" in
Human-Agent-Interaction/Psycholinguistics <br>
<br>
Saarland University, Saarbruecken, Germany <br>
<br>
The Embodied Spoken Interaction (ESI) group at the Saarland
University, headed by Dr. Maria Staudte, invites applications for a
PhD studentship, available now - but at the latest to be filled by
July 1st, 2014. <br>
<br>
People interact using speech as well as other non-verbal cues. Gaze,
for instance, ubiquitously accompanies utterances in face-to-face
interaction and may provide additional referential information from
the speaker or may reveal whether the listener has understood.
Following the partner's gaze and interpreting her posture and
gestures can not only enrich but even be essential for successful
and efficient communication. <br>
<br>
Understanding and modeling the dynamic interplay of speech and
non-verbal cues such as gaze and how they combine to encode a
particular message is a complex enterprise. The use of virtual
characters as interaction partners provides one way to approach this
problem: The artificial partner introduces a precise, controllable,
and yet dynamic component to the interaction with humans. Using them
enables us to observe, model and test complex multi-modal behaviors.
<br>
<br>
The proposed PhD project will develop interactive behaviors of a
virtual character that process and respond to the user (e.g. by
means of data capture through modern eye- and motion-tracking
systems and/or dialog systems). Besides the developing component,
this research is also empirical and will involve the design of user
studies and data analysis in order to tackle questions such as how
joint attention and/or certain gestures or facial expressions are or
should be employed and how they affect the spoken content. <br>
<br>
Applicants should hold a Master degree in computational linguistics,
computer science, cognitive science, psychology or psycholinguistics
(or equivalent) and should have an interest in modeling and
understanding the dynamics of human interaction. Basic programming
skills are necessary. Experience with experiment design and
statistics are an advantage but not required. Most importantly, the
successful applicant should be enthusiastic about the general
research questions and be prepared to learn new methods. <br>
<br>
The Embodied Spoken Interaction (ESI) group is part of the
"Multi-modal Computing and Interaction" Cluster of Excellence (<a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/">http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/</a>)
at Saarland University which provides a very fruitful and
constructive research environment with excellent opportunities for
exchange and cooperation. The group has access to numerous
state-of-the-art eye-tracking laboratories, a 64 channel EEG/ERP
lab, and modern computing infrastructure, and conducts research at
the level of international excellence. <br>
<br>
The candidate will be expected to contribute to the high standards
of the group and to be actively involved in the preparation and
publication of new results. Further information about the group can
be found at: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/en/independent_research_groups/esi">http://www.mmci.uni-saarland.de/en/independent_research_groups/esi</a>
<br>
<br>
Applicants should submit their research statement, a CV, a copy of
their school and university degrees, a representative reprint
(thesis or paper), and names and contact information of two
references. The position remains open until filled, but preference
will be given to applications received by *<b>15 January</b><b> 2014</b>*.
<br>
<br>
All documents should be e-mailed as a single PDF to: <br>
<br>
Dr. Maria Staudte <br>
e-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:masta@coli.uni-saarland.de">masta@coli.uni-saarland.de</a>
<br>
Department of Computational Linguistics <br>
Saarland University 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany <br>
<br>
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