Intelligent Avatars for Collaborative and Rehabilitative Extended Realities Kingston University in United Kingdom

This PhD project at Kingston University focuses on the development of intelligent, embodied avatars for Extended Reality (XR) environments, with applications in collaborative and rehabilitative tasks. The research aims to integrate conversational AI with generative models for human motion, enabling avatars to respond naturally to users through voice, gesture, and movement. These avatars will be designed to interact in real time, adapting to user actions and providing immersive, engaging experiences that enhance motivation and task performance.

Current XR systems often rely on rigid, pre-scripted avatar animations, which limit realism and responsiveness. Leveraging recent advances in generative AI and deep learning, particularly models trained on large-scale motion capture data, this project seeks to synthesize realistic, context-sensitive human motion in real time. Such lifelike and situation-aware motion is crucial for avatars that must move in ways consistent with their speech, context, and role—whether demonstrating rehabilitation exercises or guiding users through collaborative tasks.

The impact of this research is especially significant in therapeutic and learning environments, where user perception, emotional engagement, and comprehension are closely tied to avatar believability. By creating avatars that are both interactive and adaptive, the project aims to improve engagement and outcomes in rehabilitation and collaborative settings.

Applicants should have a strong academic background, holding a first or upper second class honours degree (and preferably a MSc) in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related discipline. Programming skills are essential, and candidates should be motivated to develop expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Extended Realities.

This position is part of the Graduate School studentships competition for October 2026 entry, offering funding that typically covers tuition and stipend. For more information on funding and application procedures, candidates are encouraged to consult the Kingston University PhD Studentships page and the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and the Environment research webpage.

Supervision will be provided by Dr J Francik, whose research interests include pose-centric motion synthesis and mixed reality applications for rehabilitation. Relevant recent publications include work on adaptive instance normalization for motion synthesis and mixed reality games for hand rehabilitation.

The application deadline is March 4, 2026. Prospective students should review the studentships information and follow the application instructions provided on the university and faculty research pages.