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Research Scientist, AR & Spatial Computing - Mercari

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English: FluentJapanese: Basic
Mercari

AR & Spatial Computing

Research Scientist, AR & Spatial Computing

  • Employment Status: Full-time
  • Work Hours: Full Flextime (no core time)
  • Office: Roppongi

Role Overview

Join a research team pioneering AR and spatial computing for real-world commerce and logistics. As a full-time research scientist, you'll drive and execute innovative projects at the intersection of HCI, AI, and spatial technology.

Organization & Mission

Engineering Principles

  • Passion For The Product
  • Grow Together
  • Solve Through Mechanisms
  • Collaborate Openly

Under the mission to "Pioneer the path toward undiscovered value", the team (R4D) operates as a co-innovation R&D hub driving new value by collaborating across industries and communities.

R4D HCI Research Themes (FY2027)

Focus is on spatial computing and AR-driven research, with the following themes:

  1. Spatial AR for Physical Object Understanding

    • AR systems for real-time 3D measurement, object detection, and spatial reasoning on mobile devices.
    • Applications in logistics and e-commerce workflows.

  2. Hand Tracking, Smart Glasses & Human-Robot Interaction

    • Spatial interaction with hand tracking and AR/smart glasses in logistics.
    • Exploring robotic manipulation training, inspection, and packaging via HCI-driven and haptic feedback interfaces.

  3. Generative & Adaptive UI

    • Generative UI/UX frameworks that adapt to users, accessibility, and platform constraints.
    • AI-driven/agentic interface components for AR and mobile.

  4. Accessibility (Ongoing Collaboration)

    • Contribute to accessibility research and consult with product teams for accessible solutions.

Work Responsibilities

  • Lead the HCI research program, including annual planning, prioritization, and execution.
  • Oversee program operations (budgeting, resourcing, coordination with partners).
  • Publish in top-tier conferences/journals (HCI, AI, Computer Graphics).
  • Design and execute user research and experimentation for next-gen interaction (from study design to prototyping and data analysis).
  • Develop & evaluate new concepts for robotics, AR/VR, and multimodal interfaces, including feasibility and UX validation.
  • Investigate embodied interaction (e.g., hand tracking, smart-glasses, HRI) to inform product opportunities.
  • Partner with product, design, and engineering teams to translate research into actionable recommendations.
  • Synthesize and communicate research findings via reports, presentations, and workshops.
  • Drive org-level research visibility through internal and external forums and publications.
  • Identify and de-risk new interaction opportunities for immersive or AI-enabled services.

Unique Challenges

  • Contribute to high-impact research that supports the mission of circulating value for all people.
  • Help implement research outcomes in society through real deployments.
  • Collaborate with university researchers and pursue long-term, innovative projects.
  • Leverage data and experience from large-scale products with millions of users.

Qualifications

Required Experience/Skills

  • PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
  • Research publication record at top HCI or graphics venues (e.g., ACM CHI, UIST, SIGGRAPH, IEEE VR, ISMAR).
  • Hands-on experience developing/evaluating AR, mixed reality, or spatial computing prototypes.
  • Strong programming skills for research (e.g., Swift/ARKit, Unity, Python, C++, or similar).
  • Capable of independent research and clear English communication (written & verbal).

Preferred Experience/Skills

  • Experience with hand tracking, smart glasses (Meta, Apple Vision Pro, HoloLens, etc.), or robotics interfaces.
  • Familiarity with on-device ML inference, computer vision, or 3D object detection.
  • Experience with generative UI, LLM-driven interfaces, or adaptive/accessible design.
  • Publications or real-world HCI deployments (logistics, e-commerce, etc.).
  • Proven industry collaboration and research-to-prototype translation.

Languages

  • English: Independent (CEFR B2+)
  • Japanese: (Optional) Basic (CEFR A2)

Details about CEFR

Learn More

Recruiting Process

  1. Application screening
  2. Skill assessment (engineering positions: typically via HackerRank or Github)
  3. Interview(s)
  4. Reference check
  5. Offer

More details about the recruiting process

Equal Opportunity Hiring

The position welcomes all qualified applicants. The employer is committed to an inclusive, diverse, and discrimination-free hiring environment. For more information, see the Inclusion & Diversity statement.

Please review the Privacy Policy before applying.

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