2025 STEM Winter Internship
MSc in Innovative Multimedia Entertainment
Job Summary
MSc in Innovative Multimedia & Entertainment (MScIME) of School of Design is a taught postgraduate programme working closely with PolyU Research Centre for Cultural and Art Technology and PolyU-NVIDIA Joint Research Centre. As an eligible employer under STEM Internship Scheme set up by the Innovation and Technology Commission (“ITC”), HKSAR government, MScIME is seeking highly skilled undergraduate & postgraduate students in the area of creative technologies, cultural heritage, artificial intelligence generated content, metaverse and digital content to join our team during winter of 2025. We are looking for internship positions under two tracks.
Track 1
Project 1: Digital Human In VR
Project Description:
We are creating a digital human for exhibition and academic research. We are looking for a developer with experience in the development of the digital human animation and build this project in VR environment. The project already has a mature digital human model, a large language model driven backend, and skeleton redirection files. As a student helper, you will participate in the creation of character animations and VR development in digital projects using Metahuman skeletons.
Core Responsibilities:
You start your work based on the basic information of this project and the basic model. Your responsibility is to create a character motion animation based on this. If interested, you can also participate in the subsequent user experiment and writing of academic papers.
Qualifications & Skills:
We are looking for motivated individuals with a strong interest in AI, HCI/HRI, and mental well-being. Ideal candidates will possess at least ONE of:
- Have a good sense of artistic aesthetics.
- Possess UE Blueprint development experience and understand the motion state machine in UE.Experience with audio live streaming technologies is a plus.
- Be able to handle the Metahuman skeleton system and perform animation redirection in UE. Or have experience in processing infrared motion - capture data or action redirection. Be able to use standard skeletons (BIP/Unreal Standard Skeleton) for binding.
- Better VR development.
What do we look for in your CV/Portfolio?
- Animations and prior work that illustrates your capacity.
Inquiry: 23037291R@connect.polyu.hk
Project 2: Museum AR Guide Tour Developer
Project Description:
(Direction 1)* - Digital Reconstruction and VR Implementation of Museum: Based on established reconstruction workflows, this project encompasses the museum's digital rebuilding, VR environment deployment, and interactive feature development, requiring competency in Unreal Engine and Quest 2/3 hardware.
(Direction 2)* – GenAI-Powered Interactive Guide System for Museum: Following existing frameworks to implement AI-driven AR Guide Tour interactions in museum, requiring expertise in Quest 2/3 hardware, Unreal Engine, and GenAI development.
*You can choose either one direction.
Core Responsibilities:
- Assist in developing immersive AR features specifically Meta Quest 3 headset/Pico in Unity/UE.
- Collaborate with the team on the design, implementation, and refinement of AR spaces.
- Work with AI tools to enhance the realism and interactivity of virtual objects.
- Conduct tests on the Meta Quest 3/Pico to ensure functionality, performance, and user satisfaction.
- Attend and contribute to project meetings, providing updates and receiving feedback on development progress.
Required Skills:
- Experience with Unity/UE is required.
- Basic understanding of AR development, particularly for the Meta Quest/Pico platform or other AR development tools is highly beneficial.
- Strong problem-solving skills and a passion for AR technology.
- Effective communication and ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
What do we look for in your CV/Portfolio?
- Prior experience of applications built for VR/AR projects and combination with AI tools.
Inquiry: mingming.wang@connect.polyu.hk
Project 3: Multimodal AI & MR Experience Design
Project Description:
- Ethnic Narrative Creative Platform: Explore the creative reconstruction of traditional ethnic myths and narratives through multimodal AI. This includes collecting ethnic culture symbols to develop a generative narrative application for culture safeguarding and innovation.
- Proactive MR Interface for Touring Experience: Explore Mixed Reality (MR) interfaces tailored to the needs of specific tourism destinations and user requirements, enhancing local cultural item and navigation presentation.
Core Responsibilities:
- Collaborate with researchers and designers to develop interaction systems using Unity or Unreal Engine.
- Contribute to testing workflows, debugging, and iterating prototypes with feedback.
Required Skills:
- Hands-on experience with Unity or Unreal Engine (UE) development; practical experience in building applications with Meta Quest would be preferred.
- Familiarity with generative model developing (model fine-tuning, multimodal processing, etc.) or scene understanding (e.g., spatial mapping, semantic segmentation, etc.) is a plus.
- Interest in interaction design and cultural heritage digitalization.
- Good communication skills, ability to work collaboratively in a research team.
What do we look for in your CV/Portfolio?
- Technical capability in VR/AR/MR/AI implementation.
Inquiry: zixiao-julia.liu@connect.polyu.hk
Project 4: AI-driven interaction design & VR game
Project Description:
- LLM-driven VR Personalized Interactive Interface: Based on user-specific information, this project leverages large models to infer user intent and construct an interactive interface to facilitate the acquisition of personalized information.
- VR game Application: This project aims to digitally recreate and gamify the production process of Hong Kong's cultural heritage. Leveraging virtual reality (VR) and game-based learning, the system allows users to interactively experience the production process of cultural products and gain a deep understanding of the cultural connotations behind each step, offering new perspectives for intangible heritage preservation, digital humanities, and educational technology.
Core Responsibilities:
- AI-driven Interaction Design (LLM-driven VR Interface): develop and test LLM-based intent recognition to personalize VR user interactions. Design adaptive dialogue systems that guide users through cultural and educational experiences. Collaborate with VR developers to integrate AI-driven interaction flows into immersive environments. Evaluate system usability and effectiveness through user testing and feedback analysis.
- VR Heritage Gamification (VR me Application): Conduct research on Hong Kong cultural heritage craft traditions. Support VR game design and prototyping (Unity/Unreal Engine). Assist with 3D modeling and asset development (Blender, photogrammetry, or similar tools). Implement game mechanics (task progression, scoring, cultural trivia, multiplayer collaboration).
- Familiarity with Unity or Unreal Engine for VR development. OR familiarity with 3D modeling/animation tools (Blender, Maya, Cinema4D, or equivalent). Or basic knowledge of natural language processing / LLMs and ability to integrate APIs. Or programming experience with Python, C#, or C++ for VR/game logic and AI integration.
- Strong interest in intangible cultural heritage, HCI, or serious games. Or experience in UX/UI design for immersive environments. Or familiarity with user study design, surveys, and qualitative/quantitative data analysis.
What do we look for in your CV/Portfolio?
- Technical capability in VR/AR/MR/AI implementation or experience in the user study.
Inquiry: haiyan.jiang@polyu.edu.hk
Track 2
Project: Research Laboratory for Advanced Social Robotics (Earnest Design) (3-4 Positions)
Lab Description:
The Research Laboratory for Advanced Social Robotics is a newly established lab aiming for the Development, Deployment, and Evaluation of Advanced AI Tools (LLMs, Generative Imagery, real time communication technologies) for Emotional Support and Well-being through Social Robotics in Hong Kong.
Join our research lab at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). We just started out in a five-year project for creating and deploying innovative AI-driven solutions—including Large Language Models (LLMs), Large Action Models (LAMs)s, real time communication platforms, real robots and avatar technologies—to enhance emotional well-being and alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression within social robotics contexts in Hong Kong.
Role:
We are seeking interns to contribute to the research, design, development, evaluation, and field deployment of these AI-powered solutions. We have opportunities available for the following specialized roles:
- Software Engineering Intern
- HCI Intern
- LLMOps Intern
- Experimental Analysis Intern
Key Responsibilities:
Your specific responsibilities will vary based on your chosen track but may include:
- Conversational AI & Chatbots [LLM Intern]:
- Continue on evaluation work on various LLMs to meet teams, real-time demands.
- Evaluate fine-tuned LLMs empathetic, personalized chatbots for use across different cultural endpoints.
- Craft nuanced LLM interaction behaviors for user engagement.
- Continue developing benchmarks and evaluation pipelines alongside community advisory boards and researchers.
- Software Engineering & Integration [Software Engineering Intern]:
- Engage in prototyping, integrating AI modules, and ensuring system robustness alongside other members
- Develop high-quality, functional prototypes for testing and deployment of various interactions modules integrating various AI APIs ranging from SST, TTS, Behavior Scripting etc.
- Implement and manage building systems.
- Evaluation & User Studies [HCI Intern]:
- Design and conduct user studies to assess efficacy and usability of various Social Robotics modules.
- Develop and implement rating systems and other evaluation metrics.
- Analyze qualitative and quantitative data, potentially collaborating with mental health professionals.
- Collaboration & Dissemination [All Roles]:
- Contribute to research papers and presentations.
- Maintain thorough documentation.
Qualifications & Skills:
We are looking for motivated individuals with a strong interest in AI, HCI/HRI, and mental well-being. Ideal candidates will possess:
- Experience with LLMs, generative AI for creative use. Or desire to learn how
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Cantonese ability is a significant plus
Inquiry: sd.earnest.lab@polyu.edu.hk
Application
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Application will be closed on 12 Oct 2025.
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Track 1 Application Link: https://forms.office.com/r/Hq56x2s4qr
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Track 2 Application Link: https://forms.gle/8ZUyHSv73LJa1oCLA
Eligibility for STEM Internship
As required by ITC, the STEM Internship Scheme is open to undergraduates and postgraduates who are:
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local or non-local students enrolling on one of the full-time STEM programmes (please refer to the “List of Eligible STEM Programmes” on this page) recognised by ITC to be eligible for the Scheme; and
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from any year of studies; and
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legally employable in Hong Kong.
Interested candidate should note that this internship CANNOT be used to fulfil WIE requirements. For more details, please refer to Notes for Students.
STEM Internship Job Offer
The internship will be offered for no less than 4 weeks within the period from early-Nov 2025 to mid-Jan 2026, subject to Project Leader. Successful candidate will receive allowance for HK$11,490 per month (i.e. 30days).
Inquiry
Email: sdrccat2@polyu.edu.hk
Tel: 2766 4711 (Mr Wang / Miss Ouyang)