PhD opportunity in AI-powered social virtual humans for children’s immersive experiences

We are offering a self-funded PhD position with our Institute of Digital Futures, focusing on developing AI-powered social virtual humans to enhance immersive experiences for children.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

If you have any questions about the project or would like to arrange an informal discussion, please reach out to Dr Nadine Aburumman at nadine.aburumman@brunel.ac.uk or Dr Chiara Bulgarelli at chiara.bulgarelli@bbk.ac.uk.

Research area

Neurodevelopmental conditions like autism, ADHD, and aggression affect up to 10% of the UK population, and have harmful and long-lasting impacts on mental health.

This project aims to develop AI-powered virtual avatars to help children with these conditions practise social skills in natural scenarios. Using responsible AI, you will create age-appropriate behaviours for child avatars through natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning.

Project description

You will play a key role in advancing research on how AI can be used to create believable and responsible virtual avatars for children. This project aims to develop a social virtual human that uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to provide age-appropriate behaviour and personalised responses. This platform will help children practise social skills and inform families, carers, and organisations involved in early childhood development.

Key focus areas

As a PhD candidate, you will focus on:

AI algorithms for virtual avatars: Develop and refine natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to create lifelike and responsible virtual avatars
Behaviour design: Design believable behaviours for child virtual avatars that provide responsible dialogue and personalised responses
Interdisciplinary collaboration: Work with experts in computer science, psychology, and user-centred design to develop comprehensive solutions
User studies: Conduct trials with children to gather feedback and refine the virtual avatars

Research approach

This project employs a multidisciplinary approach, combining advanced AI techniques with insights from psychology and user-centred design to enhance social interaction for children. You will:

Develop AI algorithms: Create and optimise NLP and machine learning algorithms for virtual avatars
Design behaviours: Ensure the virtual avatars exhibit believable and responsible behaviours
Conduct user studies: Gather and analyse data from children to assess the effectiveness of the virtual avatars
Collaborate across disciplines: Work with interdisciplinary teams to integrate findings from various fields, ensuring a holistic approach to the research

Who we're looking for

Are you a motivated and passionate individual with a keen interest in AI and early childhood development? We are looking for someone like you to join our research team. To be successful in this role, you should have a master's degree in computer science, psychology, or a related discipline. While previous experience in conducting research, especially in AI applications or early childhood development, is highly valued, it is not a strict requirement.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:

Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you would be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
Click on the 'Apply here' button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.

Good luck!

This is a self funded topic

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Nadine Aburumman - Nadine researches real-time computer graphics and leads the Graphics and Extended Reality Team (GERT). She is a member of the Centre for AI: Social and Digital Innovation, where she co-coordinated the AI Centre Thought Leadership series (TLS) for two years (2023 and 2024). She is also a member of the Interactive Multimedia System (IMS) research group. Before joining Brunel, Nadine was a research associate at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience (ICN) at University College London (UCL). Prior to that, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Computer Science Research Institute of Toulouse (IRIT) funded by Centre International de Mathématiques et Informatique de Toulouse (CIMI) after a successful grant acquisition for 2 years (€ 100K). Before that, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, in the Institute for Multiscale Simulation (MSS). She completed her PhD studies in the ALCOR Lab at Sapienza University of Rome after being awarded a PhD Erasmus Mundus Scholarship.

Related Research Group(s)

Human Computer Interaction - Investigating ways in which humans and computers can interact through intuitive interface design, understanding of human factors and multimedia.

Intelligent Data Analysis - Concerned with effective analysis of data involving artificial intelligence, dynamic systems, image and signal processing, optimisation, pattern recognition, statistics and visualisation.