Unity VR Developers

Summary of Position

This Unity 3D programming and teaching position provides development support for research projects and teaching support for members of the Media Effects and Technology Laboratory (METL). The METL lab focuses on building immersive, interactive experiences that improve the human spirit and condition. This position mainly involves two components:

1. Development of immersive VR experiences using Unity 3D environment. You will be working closely with members of the METL lab and subject matter experts who will help design the VR experience.
2. Teaching student members of the METL lab who are interested in acquiring basic VR development skills.

Competencies

1. Knowledge of Unity 3D and developing 3D projects using Unity
2. Good C# programming skills
3. Ability to teach METL lab student members basic VR development skills in Unity
4. Good debugging skills in Unity. Should be able to help student members of the METL lab debug their research projects in Unity
5. Ability to collaborate with members of a research team that includes media psychologists, researchers, programmers and 3D modelers
6. Willingness to be a part of the design process, working with multi-disciplinary teams to identify requirements for designing, developing and disseminating an immersive experience
7. Willingness to learn the structure and functionality of an existing project
8. Ability to observe non-technical end users use the simulation and record bugs and improvements needed
9. Effective communication skills
10. Ability to work with multiple dissemination platforms like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Samsung GearVR and the Google Daydream Viewer

Entry Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• At least 6 months experience with Unity 3D Game engine and development environment
• Minimum 1 year of C# programming experience
• Familiarity with developer IDEs like Visual Studio and MonoDevelop
• Excellent software troubleshooting skills
• Experience observing users use a product under development and improve the usability of product based on feedback
• Experience working with and/or creating simple 3D models
• Proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Mac operating systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience using game controllers like the Xbox controller for Windows
• Experience working with 3D modeling tools like Maya and Sketchup
• Experience working with web VR tools like WebGL
• Experience working with development tools in web browsers like Chrome and Firefox

Research Assistants

Summary of Position

This Research Assistant position provides support with the conducting of experimental research studies in the Media Effects and Technology Laboratory (METL). METL focuses on evaluating the effects of immersive, interactive experiences on the attitude, cognition and behavior of users. This position mainly involves three components:

1. Development of stimuli and evaluation material to be used for the experimental research studies. Stimuli could be websites, media content like images, videos and presentations or descriptive narratives.You will be working closely with members of METL as well as subject matter experts who will help design the stimuli and evaluation material.
2. Preparing and submitting a detailed research protocol to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to get approval for conducting the research study.
3. Conducting a research study. You will help with recruiting participants, scheduling and running participants through the research experiment and collecting data as part of the research study.

Competencies

1. Knowledge of basic experimental research methods
2. Ability to collaborate with members of a research team that includes media psychologists, researchers, programmers and 3D modelers
3. Excellent communication skills
4. Willingness to learn
5. Proactive in identifying and addressing challenges that can occur during experimental research