UX Research Scientist, Reality Labs

UX Research Scientist, Reality Labs

At Meta Reality Labs (RL), we are inventing the future. We bring together a world-class team of researchers, developers, and engineers to build the future of connection within virtual and augmented reality. As a Research Scientist at RL, you are expected to have breadth and depth of scientific background in one or more areas such as human perception, cognition, motor control and movement. You will be leveraging this background in service of defining, assessing and enhancing the form, function and dynamics of our hardware and software. You will break down ambiguous problems and master research methods, including but not limited to, design of experiments, expert review, psychophysics & threshold detection, biomechanics & ergonomics, and safety research approaches. You will prove highly effective at driving insights into actionable product engineering & development outcomes and metrics and collaborate closely with cross functional partners to help shape critical product and technology decisions across the product design and development life cycle. You will work across multi-disciplinary hardware and software teams to push the boundaries of RL products while enhancing the value users get from these products. Ultimately, your expertise and ingenuity in research must do more than just contribute to knowledge and assessment you must also be skilled at driving measurable impact on the user experience of our products.

Responsibilities

Develop frameworks that clearly define the trade space between user variables and technology variables and to develop methodologies for investigating novel challenges

Collaborate and work with cross-functional product teams to identify user goals and envision needs and create research frameworks

Develop ergonomic, perceptual, or psychological research studies by utilizing appropriate methods

Develop and track metrics for quality of performing fundamental Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality tasks

Investigate effects of human multisensory interactions, attention, and control dynamics on performance and safety of doing such tasks

Analyze rich and multidimensional data, develop descriptive and analytical models, and shape actionable insights from research findings

Effectively communicate outcomes and insights from studies, support decision-making and help setting specifications for Reality Labs hardware and software products, and drive measurable impact on the user experience

Create close partnerships with a variety of leadership, research and product stakeholders to ensure a broad understanding of the product needs and priorities while driving UX goals

Define metrics that establish overall system requirements and performance

Collaborate with other researchers and engineers across teams at Meta to develop experiments, prototypes, and concepts that advance the state-of-the-art in AR / VR systems

Improve data analysis pipelines with an emphasis on scalability and stability of various deployed systems

Minimum Qualifications

Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Degree must be completed prior to joining Meta

PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Centered Computing, Cognitive / Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Science, Kinesiology, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Human Factors, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics or a closely related scientific or engineering field

Demonstrated scientific background in human multi-sensory perception, cognition, motor control, movement, virtual characters / agents and / or Generative AI, with experience applying such knowledge in analyzing and improving immersive and social experiences or relevant human behaviors associated with novel systems

Proven track record of rigorous scientific research, including development of metrics, frameworks and novel scientific approaches and / or psychophysical and empirical behavioral measurements

Demonstrated track record of clear and concise communication, demonstrated experience translating technical concepts to drive understanding and buy-in from audiences, and proven experience of successfully building effective partnerships

Experience in conducting research for novel products headed to market

Experience in experimental design, psychophysics, behavioral analytics, and proficiency with inferential statistics

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in research across full product life-cycle

Experience in research for emerging technologies, AR / VR / MR or wearable technology

Training and experience in related techniques such as eye tracking, body motion tracking, postural stability measures, human motor control and kinematics analysis, EMG and other biometric sensing technology, and physiology measures

The right candidate will be an effective communicator, have an interest in understanding people, and curious about the evolving complex relationship between humans' sensorimotor and cognitive systems and the novel hardware and software technologies in development at RL

Although candidates should have hands-on experience conducting in-depth studies in an industry setting, we are looking for researchers that also have demonstrated experience in understanding human behavior and limitations to directly influence product design

Experience in experimental design, psychophysics, behavioral analytics, and proficiency with inferential statistics

Currently has or in the process of obtaining a PhD in Cognitive / Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Science, Kinesiology, Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction or a closely related scientific or engineering field. Degree must be completed prior to joining Meta