Research Intern - Interactive Multimodal Futures Group (Situated & Affective Computing)

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

78d•Onsite

About The Position

Research Internships at Microsoft provide a dynamic environment for research careers with a network of world-class research labs led by globally-recognized scientists and engineers, who pursue innovation in a range of scientific and technical disciplines to help solve complex challenges in diverse fields, including computing, healthcare, economics, and the environment. The Interactive Multimodal Futures (IMF) group at Microsoft Research seeks a PhD-level Research Intern to work on a project at the intersection of situated interaction, affective computing, and human-centered AI systems. The project will include elements of multimodal sensing (physiology, speech, gaze, gestures, olfaction/gas, etc.), signal processing, and real-time interaction. Our group’s research spans several sub-areas: Human-centered AI for affective computing and adaptive experiences. Situated interaction between humans and AI systems deployed in the physical world. Conversational AI Agents that are empathetic and context aware. Ambient intelligence with unobtrusive sensing in the real world. You will collaborate with IMF researchers to prototype systems, run user studies, develop machine learning models, and explore technical capabilities of generative AI for human-AI interaction. Please include a cover letter indicating which of the above research topics you are most interested in and aligned with. Be sure to indicate which of the specific preferred qualifications (listed below) you possess.

Requirements

Currently enrolled in a PhD or equivalent program in HCI, HRI, Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Psychology, or related STEM field.
At least 2 years of research experience using human-centered approaches in HCI, HRI, ML, CV, or Affective Computing.
Research Interns are expected to be physically located in their manager’s Microsoft worksite location for the duration of their internship.
In addition to the qualifications below, you’ll need to submit a minimum of two reference letters for this position as well as a cover letter and any relevant work or research samples. After you submit your application, a request for letters may be sent to your list of references on your behalf. Note that reference letters cannot be requested until after you have submitted your application, and furthermore, that they might not be automatically requested for all candidates. You may wish to alert your letter writers in advance, so they will be ready to submit your letter.
Please include a cover letter indicating which of the research topics you are most interested in and aligned with. Be sure to indicate which of the specific preferred qualifications (listed below) you possess.

Nice To Haves

Experience writing peer-reviewed publications.
Experience with generative AI techniques, ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch), and real-time interactive systems.
Strong collaboration and communication skills.
Conducting human-subjects research.
Experience implementing research prototypes (frontend, backend, or both).
Using human-centered design & research methods.
Familiarity with reinforcement learning or time-series signal processing.
Working with large datasets (e.g., text, vision, physiology, behavioral).
Background in affective computing, behavioral, or physiological sensing.
Experience collecting data with wearable devices.
Hardware prototyping or wearable device experience.
Healthcare/wellbeing experience - e.g., pain assessment and modeling (nociceptive signals, stress/anxiety detection), or collaboration with clinical partners.
Olfaction & gas sensing - e.g., experience with electronic noses, breath analysis, or volatile organic compound sensing.
Demonstrated experience in programming multimodal systems that interact with real human users, e.g., robots or virtual agents, particularly by integrating multiple machine-learned components such as computer vision, speech recognition, dialogue handling, natural language generation, etc.
Demonstrated experience in conducting research outside of a controlled lab environment, e.g., field research, ethnography, in-the-wild studies, etc.
Experience prototyping real-time conversational AI agents using tools such as the OpenAI Realtime API, including function calling, and supporting interactions via text, voice, and other interfaces.
Designed, implemented, and evaluated different personality styles for AI agents, varying factors such as communication style, voice characteristics, and emotional tone to study their impact on user experience, engagement, and trust.
Incorporated multimodal sensory inputs (e.g., text, audio, contextual signals) to enhance interaction quality and make agent responses more adaptive and context aware.
Leveraging the latest in AI techniques to perform sensing in the real world
Working with multimodal AI models

Responsibilities

Design and implement research prototypes for real-time situated and adaptive interaction.
Explore the use of the latest generative AI techniques related to interpreting multimodal interaction, conversation, and behavioral signals.
Conduct user studies and analyze multimodal data.
Contribute to publications and share findings with the research community.

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