Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Unity Environment Artist

The Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences is looking for a temporary part-time Unity Environment Artist, who will participate in the development of an interactive, audio-visual simulation environment using state-of-the-art video game technology. This simulator project will support the research of multiple BCS labs, and will enable:

• The collection of next-generation experimental data (both neurophysiological and behavioral), in an environment that mimics the sensory and interactive richness of the physical world
• The generation of large-scale datasets for training neural network models of the brain, that allow those networks to generalize to images from the real world
• Direct interaction with the environment by human subjects, optionally as a virtual reality experience using commercially-available headsets such as the Oculus Rift

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Designing and building both interior and exterior environment scenes in Unity, and preparing them for use in the simulation environment
• Helping build, organize and maintain a comprehensive 3D model and materials library
• Evaluating environment models in the simulation environment under different conditions, and making appropriate modifications and optimizations
• Learning and evaluating new tools and techniques, and prototyping modeling approaches

Qualifications & Skills:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in art, design, game development, or closely related fields; 2-3 years’ experience using Unity to develop games and/or visualization/simulation applications, with a focus on building 3D assets and creating both indoor and outdoor environments; Strong modeling skills (3DS Max ideal, Maya or Blender OK), with experience exporting models to Unity. Knowledge of rendering environments such as VRay is a definite plus; Comfortable authoring PBR materials, including typical texture creation tasks such as texture baking, UV unwrapping etc.; Solid understanding of scene setup and environment building in Unity. Successful candidates should be comfortable modeling buildings but also know their way around Unity’s terrain tools; Good handle on all aspects of lighting in Unity including real-time GI, light-map baking, setting up light probe groups and reflection probes for both interior and exterior scenes; Familiarity with scene optimization techniques in Unity such as occlusion culling, LOD models and draw-call reduction; Creative problem-solving skills, including a keen interest in researching new approaches to solving specific problems; Desirable additional Unity knowledge / experience: Familiarity with Substance procedural materials, using Substance Designer and working with Substances in Unity; Experience creating environments using Quixel Megascans scanned assets, and knowledge of photogrammetry techniques in general; Experience working with Unity asset bundles; Experience using Unity 2018, especially working with the new HD Render Pipeline; Basic Unity animation and scripting skills; Experience with procedural modeling techniques in Unity, including using parametric modeling approaches (e.g. Archimatix).

 

This is a temporary part-time (min of ~20 hours per week) three (3) month appointment, with the possibility of renewal, contingent on performance, available work and funding.

This temporary hire will be engaged through the MITemp program, managed by our vendor partner, NextSource. Incumbent will be subject to NextSource policies and procedures and eligible for limited benefits through the agency.

Please submit your RESUME and COVER LETTER to Jeremy Schwartz, jeremyes@mit.edu.