The AI Characters team at ETH Zurich’s Computer Graphics Laboratory is seeking a Research Engineer to play a central role in developing and maintaining interactive AI avatar platforms, including Digital Einstein. The focus is on lifelike digital humans powered by large language models, affective computing, and real-time rendering, deployed at high-profile international events such as the World Economic Forum, GITEX Global, and Berlin Science Week.
Digital Einstein is the flagship interactive AI avatar, bringing Albert Einstein to life as a conversational agent. The platform is expanding to include augmented reality experiences, a web-based version for broader accessibility, novel hardware interaction elements, and continued improvements to the cognition layer.
Tasks
- Unity frontend development for Digital Einstein, including building AR experiences and maintaining the physical platform; components are designed for reuse across all deployment contexts.
- Python backend development with a focus on LLM integration, improving dialogue quality, story adherence, agency, multimodal perception, affective cognition, and multi-turn interaction management.
- Website development to bring Digital Einstein to the web and enable broader public accessibility.
- On-site technical support at national and international events and demonstrations (setup, visitor interaction, troubleshooting), including occasional availability on weekends.
- Optional: development of novel hardware interaction elements for the physical platform (e.g., tangible interfaces).
Requirements
- University degree (BSc or MSc) in Computer Science or a closely related field.
- Solid hands-on experience with Unity.
- Experience with augmented reality (AR) development, ideally with ARKit, ARFoundation, ARCore, Meta Quest, or comparable frameworks.
- Hands-on experience with large language models and Python-based backend development.
- Experience with web development is a plus.
- Interest in hardware prototyping and interactive installation design is a plus.
- Reliable, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-paced research environment both independently and as part of a team.
- Willingness to provide on-site event support, including occasional weekends.
Benefits
- A central engineering role in a high-visibility AI avatar platform showcased at flagship international events (World Economic Forum, GITEX Global, Berlin Science Week, and more).
- Exposure to cutting-edge research at the intersection of real-time graphics, large language models, and affective computing.
- Opportunities to contribute to academic publications and research outputs.
- Involvement in the full lifecycle of an interactive platform, from research prototype to large-scale public deployment.
- Collaborative, international team at ETH Zurich’s Computer Graphics Laboratory.
- Regular mentoring and close involvement in shaping the platform’s technical roadmap.
- Dynamic research environment with a hands-on, engineering-driven culture.
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Das Team
The team is collaborative and international, offering regular mentoring and close involvement in shaping the technical roadmap within a dynamic, engineering-driven culture.