Research Positions

TWO POSITIONS AT THE CENTRE FOR VISION RESEARCH, YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, CANADA

Two positions are available in the laboratory of Dr. Rob Allison at the York University Centre for Vision Research. We are seeking enthusiastic collaborators to participate in an interdisciplinary programme of research in the psychophysical study of human vision.

Facilities of the lab include advanced graphics generators, stereoscopes, shutter glasses with fast phosphor monitors, search coil and video eye movement monitors, motion tracking devices and technology for presentation of advanced virtual environments. Areas of interest for the laboratory include depth perception especially stereopsis, eye movements, perception of self-motion, and applications to telepresence and virtual reality.

The York Centre for Vision Research is an interdisciplinary centre spanning the laboratories of 23 faculty members in the Departments of Psychology, Computer Science, Biology and Philosophy (see www.cvr.yorku.ca ). Members pursue fundamental and applied research in visual, vestibular and auditory perception, eye-movements, computer vision, virtual reality and robotics.

Applicants for these positions should send their c.v., selected reprints and the names of 3 referees to:

Robert Allison Department of Computer Science
York University 4700 Keele Street Toronto, ON
Canada M3J 1P3 Fax: (416) 736-5872 email: allison@cs.yorku.ca

1. Post-doctoral fellowship in depth perception

The project is funded by the Premier’s Research Excellence program. The initial appointment is for a period of one year with possible renewal for an additional year. The salary is consistent with current MRC/NSERC standards and will be adjusted according to the candidate’s level of experience.

The candidate should have a PhD in the visual sciences and background in visual psychophysics, experimental psychology or computational modeling of human vision. The post-doctoral fellow will design, conduct and analyse experiments that aim to identify basic perceptual mechanisms for perceiving the three-dimensional layout of the environment. The candidate should have excellent quantitative and analytical skills and experience conducting behavioural experiments. The project will study will study mechanisms of depth cue combination. Efforts in computer vision and the modeling of neural processing have demonstrated how difficult it can be to reconcile and ‘fuse’ varied and often conflicting sensory information. We will focus on cue integration in depth perception particularly under conditions of surface transparency and occlusion. A secondary goal for the project will be to explore these issues in a state of the art head-mounted augmented reality display. In many augmented reality or heads-up display applications, monocular images are superimposed upon stereoscopic images, which may differ in portrayed slant or curvature. We plan to explore under what conditions the disparate surface captures and combines with the superimposed texture and under what circumstances transparency occurs. The successful applicant will be encouraged to pursue their own research goals and to interact with the other members of the Centre for Vision Research.

2. Research assistant/associate

A pre- or post-doctoral research associate is sought to study perceptual human factors issues in simulation and virtual environments. The initial contract will be for a period of one year with possibility of renewal. Salary will be commensurate with experience. The candidate should have experience in the design of immersive of virtual environments or in applied experimental psychology. The successful candidate will join a team of computer and behavioural scientists in an interdisciplinary effort to study human visual perception in advanced virtual environments.