1 Year Human-Robot Interaction Post-doc, Mobile Life Centre, Stockholm, Sweden

When:  Available immediately, 1 year. start date March 1st.

Where:  The researcher will be employed at SICS, Swedish Institute of Computer Science and will work within the Mobile Life Centre (MobileLifeCentre.org)

We are pleased to announce the availability of a one-year post-doc position in the area of human-robot interaction at SICS and the Mobile Life Centre. We are looking for recent Ph.D. graduates from all over the world with a strong interest in robotic artefacts and interaction design, who want to work in a dynamic research environment in Sweden.

You will work within the LIREC project at the Mobile Life Centre’s Future Applications Lab. The project’s work at Mobile Life/SICS has focused on understanding robot technology in everyday environments, and understanding existing social practices, routines and experiences that a robot designer should consider. Previous project activities have included long-term usage studies of robots by letting families adopt a Pleo robotic toy on a ’always-on’ basis; studies of a robotic eating aid and a hospital robot, to learn about robots in both private and work settings. Other studies range from ethical and sociological considerations in robot design, to the combination of robotic artefacts and social media. We have worked with other researchers, industrial designers and artists as well as industry partners.

You can contribute in many different ways: creating novel concepts for robotic interactions; by investigating the ethical and sociological ramifications of robots and robotic artefacts in everyday life; by performing user tests and ethnographic studies; and much more. Your goal within LIREC is to create practical guidelines that can be used in the design and evaluation of long-term robot ’companions’.

A PhD in a related area (e.g. human-robot interaction, human-computer interaction, robotics, interaction design, technology sociology) as well as a good publication record are required. Working language is English, Swedish is not required.

Funding project:
LIREC is a European funded (FP7) research project exploring how we live with digital and interactive companions. It is a collaboration between six universities, two research institutes and two companies spread across seven European countries. This project investigates how to support long-term relationships between humans and companion technology, in real social settings.

More info: lirec.eu

Mobile Life @ SICS:
Mobile Life and SICS are located in Kista, Sweden, about 20 minutes by subway from the centre of Stockholm. The Mobile Life Centre conducts research on consumer-oriented mobile and ubiquitous services spanning all areas from entertainment and socialization to work and society. The centre includes researchers employed at Stockholm University, Interactive Insitute and SICS and a wide variety of international visiting researchers and students. The centre has several industrial partners, such as Ericsson Research, TeliaSonera, Nokia and Microsoft Research. It also has partnerships in the public sector, including City of Stockholm, Kista Science City, and Stockholm Innovation and Growth. More info: mobilelifecentre.org

You will be part of the Future Applications Lab, led by Professor Lars Erik Holmquist. The lab uses an approach called grounded innovation to invent and test new technologies that could become products in 5-10 years time, incl. mobile services and social robots. More info: futureapplicationslab.blogspot.com

Interested?
To apply, send your motivation letter and CV (incl. publication list and at least two references) in PDF format to [email protected] at the latest February 10, 2011. Questions can be directed to Sara Ljungblad ([email protected], +46 73-733 48 93) or Henriette Cramer ([email protected], +46 (0)7 0262 9388).

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