Fully funded PhD position in computer vision, privacy preservation and assisted living

Fully funded PhD position – ESR 13: Privacy preservation in video-based AAL applications – visuAAL Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network on Privacy-Aware and Acceptable Video-Based Technologies and Services for Active and Assisted Living

Universidad de Alicante, Spain

Deadline: Open until the position is filled

https://www.visuaal-itn.eu/esr-vacancies#rp13

Call for applications: http://www.visuaal-itn.eu/sites/default/files/2021-01/Call%20for%20applications%20ESR13.pdf

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Training Network visuAAL (Privacy-Aware and Acceptable Video-Based Technologies and Services for Active and Assisted Living) invites applications for a early-stage researcher (ESR) / PhD positions, available with a starting date in Spring 2021. The duration of the appointment is 36 months, full-time employment contract, with a competitive salary.
The aim of visuAAL is to bridge the knowledge gap between users’ requirements and the appropriate and secure use of video-based AAL technologies to deliver effective and supportive care to older adults managing their health and wellbeing.
visuAAL will seek to increase awareness and understanding of the context-specific ethical, legal, privacy and societal issues necessary to implement visual system across hospital, home and community settings, in a manner that protects and reassures users; outputs will stimulate the development of a new research perspective for constructively addressing privacy-aware video-based working solutions for assisted living.
visuAAL is a four-year (2020-2024) Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Innovative Training Network (ITN), which brings together 5 beneficiaries and 14 partner organisations from Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom. visuAAL will provide a transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral combination of training, non-academic placements, courses and workshops on scientific and complementary skills to 15 high achieving ESRs. These newly hired ESRs will contribute through their individual research projects to fulfil visuAAL’s aims.

Project description
Visual data exposes a lot of information about individuals appearing on images and videos. Individuals may want to conceal all of this data, but in this case, the remaining information would be useless for the AAL services that build upon it. Therefore, there is a need to establish a trade-off between privacy and intelligibility of the images. This project will advance in a privacy-by-context approach, in which different visualisations are produced depending on the context in which images or videos are captured: Identity, appearance, location, ongoing activity of the subject being monitored; event triggered; identity and access rights of the observer; closeness between observer and monitored subject… While these privacy-by-context approach has been successfully employed using RGB-D cameras, it has been difficult to address privacy preservation using regular RGB cameras either located in the environment (preferably on the ceiling) or worn by the user. Therefore, this project will investigate visualisations methods to conceal visual privacy in applications and services for older and frail people that employ RGB cameras.

Planned secondments
• Secondment 1: Stockholm University, Sweden: Training and research on legal aspects of technology (3 months)
• Secondment 2: Anyvision (NI) Ltd., United Kingdom: Training and research on video-based monitoring and applications (3 months)

Requirements
• Applicants should hold a relevant Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering or a related area
• Applicants should not have been awarded a PhD degree
• At the time of recruitment, applicants should have less than four (full time equivalent) years of experience within a research career (measured from the date when the applicant obtained the first degree entitling him/her to embark on a doctorate, even if a doctorate was never started or envisaged)
• Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date
• Proficiency in written and spoken English
• Be highly motivated;
• Creativity and high level of independency;
• It is the policy of the visuAAL project to promote equal opportunities between men and women and stimulate gender balance.

Required expertise in computer vision and deep learning

Recommended expertise in:
• Technologies for active and assisted living
• Privacy preservation
• Data protection

The full-time gross yearly salary amounts to € 35,264.39 (plus bonus according to family charges).

More information at the visuAAL website.