PHD Candidate

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Job offer AcademicTransfer

• JOB - Netherlands - Posted on: 11 August 2026 PhD position on 'Restoring Communicative Agency: Human-centered AI smart glasses for people with speech impairments '

Page contents

11 Aug 2026

The Open Universiteit (OU) Research Field

Computer science » Programming Psychological sciences » Psychology

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Application Deadline

13 Sep 2026 - 21:59 (UTC)

Country

Netherlands

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

38.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The Project

Imagine trying to have a conversation while cooking or carrying groceries, but the only way you can communicate is by typing on the phone or using sign language. For many people with severe speech and hearing impairments, this is a daily reality. Current assistive tools, such as typing text to speech or sign language interpreters, require users to drop whatever they are doing just to communicate, which can make everyday interactions frustrating. These communication barriers often lead to profound social isolation, economic marginalization, and reduced quality of life.

This project explores a complementary approach: smart glasses that use wearable AI to interpret visible lip and facial movements and convert them into audible speech. The aim is not only to improve technical recognition performance, but also to investigate when and how such technology can support communicative agency, autonomy, confidence and participation in everyday life for the speech impaired.

The project brings together expertise in artificial intelligence, computer vision, human-computer interaction, and psychology. Its technical core lies in developing robust and adaptive visual speech recognition models. Close co...