Research Internship at Oculus in Redmond

In summer, I was at Facebook/Oculus in Redmond (USA). My internship was in the perceptual science group at Oculus Research. My work was closely related to my thesis topic as well as to my activities in the SFB-TRR 161 at the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems, University of Stuttgart (Germany). I was responsible for the development of a study design, the experimental apparatus, and conducting a user study in virtual reality to investigate the effect of virtual hands on tactile perception.

The intern program and my time at Facebook/Oculus was an amazing and very intense experience. Orientation started in the headquarter of Facebook in Menlo Park, California. Facebook has tons of exciting opportunities available for university grads and other interns. The motto there is easy to learn: move fast and focus on impact. For me, however, there was a little bit too much “impact” after having a heavy car accident using Lyft somewhere in silicon valley. After orientation in Menlo Park, I found my roommate at the airport in San Francisco and together we flew to Seattle and moved into our house in Redmond for the next three months.

Then, working at Oculus in Redmond was just an amazing and great experience. Working there is like being in wonderland – learning from the best in the industry with real industry related projects with great colleagues and great equipment. Facebook/Oculus offers an incredible amount of possibilities, and opportunities.

I must confess that returning to Germany after my internship was very hard. Anyone who has ever enjoyed all these benefits cannot leave there easily. I absolutely enjoyed the time there and can highly recommend the internship for everyone who is interested in AR, VR, as well as mixed reality technologies.