Research Scientist Graduate (Computational Imaging-PICO) - 2027 Start (PhD)

About Team: PICO's imaging systems & human engineering team is looking for a passionate and versatile imaging expert to work on next generation imaging algorithms that will deliver the top visual experience across PICO products, from camera to display. The ideal candidate specializes in imaging algorithm development with a deep understanding of camera and display optical and digital imaging chains, and will play a key role in delivering camera capture and rendering to display experience with the best image quality and efficiency. This role will also contribute to the definition and execution of technological and productization roadmap in imaging to shape the future of imaging technologies and their applications in VR/MR/AR products.

We are looking for talented individuals to join our team. As a graduate, you will get opportunities to pursue bold ideas, tackle complex challenges, and unlock limitless growth.

Successful candidates must be able to commit to an onboarding date by the end of the year. Please state your availability and graduation date clearly in your resume.

The ideal candidate has a solid foundation in image processing, computational photography, computer vision, or machine learning, together with strong curiosity and the ability to quickly explore emerging technical areas. They should be able to identify relevant research, define clear technical goals and validation methods, and rapidly translate promising ideas into working prototypes through hands-on experimentation.

In this role, you will work with PICO's AR/XR hardware platforms to collect real-world data, develop imaging and multimodal features, and use AI-assisted and agentic engineering workflows to accelerate algorithm development and iteration.

Responsibilities

• Explore and develop computational imaging, computational photography, and multimodal technologies for VR/MR/AR products.
• Research emerging approaches and rapidly translate promising ideas into prototypes using machine learning frameworks and AI-assisted development tools.
• Work hands-on with cameras, sensors, and AR/XR hardware platforms to collect data, analyze system behavior, and debug imaging issues.
• Build proof-of-concept demos for image enhancement, intelligent capture, scene understanding, and multimodal features.
• Define clear evaluation methods and automated feedback loops to iteratively improve algorithms and features.
• Collaborate with teams across camera, optics, ISP, display, AI, software, hardware, silicon, and product development.Minimum Qualifications
• Individuals who are completing or have recently completed PhD degree in Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, Imaging Science, Optical Engineering, Color Science, or a related field.
• Solid foundation in image processing, computer vision, computational photography, or machine learning, with familiarity in topics such as denoising, HDR, tone mapping, super-resolution, deblurring, 3A, camera calibration, or image quality assessment.
• Experience applying deep learning to image, video, vision, or multimodal applications using frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow and architectures such as CNNs, transformers, diffusion models, or GANs.
• Ability to quickly explore new areas, identify practical approaches, and build prototypes.
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or a similar language, with familiarity in C or C++.
• Strong problem-solving and collaboration skills, with willingness to conduct hands-on hardware experiments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research, internship, project, or publication experience in computational imaging, camera systems, multimodal AI, graphics, or XR.
• Experience with AI coding agents, automated evaluation, iterative feedback loops, or agent harness design.
• Hands-on experience with camera sensors, optics, ISP pipelines, embedded imaging systems, multimodal sensors, model optimization, real-time processing, or software-hardware co-design.
• Publications at leading venues such as CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, SIGGRAPH, or SIGGRAPH Asia are a plus.