Research Internship: Vibrotactile Communication and Human Performance

Are you interested in human performance, wearable technology, and hands-on engineering?

In this role, you will work with haptic systems that are being tested with NATO Air Forces and apply your skills to real-world challenges.

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About Touchwaves

Touchwaves is a Dutch deep-tech company and TNO spin-off developing wearable vibrotactile communication systems for high-stress environments. Our technology delivers intuitive haptic feedback through clothing-integrated actuators, giving operators access to a third sensory channel when vision and hearing are overloaded. We collaborate with the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force and other NATO Air Forces, international OEMs and leading research organizations.

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The project

Our technology is currently being tested with military air forces. To build stronger evidence, we are studying how vibrotactile stimulation affects human performance. We are especially interested in what happens when people are under high cognitive load. This controlled research helps us understand when and why haptic stimulation can support performance. It also helps us improve the design of our systems.

You will join an ongoing research project and start collecting trial data from the first day.

 

Your opportunities

The internship is built around three goals. Depending on your background and strengths, there are options to lean more toward the analytical/experimental side, the building/engineering side, or a mix of both:

• Run and analyse: Pilot and refine the existing study, recruit and run participants, collect performance and subjective workload data, and carry out the statistical analysis. The foundation of the project.

• Build and extend the setup: Design and build new components for the research. For example, integrating physiological sensors (heart rate, breathing) into the setup, developing an interface between the stimulation system and the task environment, making the task environment closer to real conditions, or developing new vibrotactile stimulation patterns to test. A strong fit if you enjoy prototyping and hands-on engineering.

• Dig deeper into a specific question: Use the validated setup to investigate one of our open research questions in more depth. For example, how stimulation parameters (intensity, pattern, body location) drive the effect, what mechanism underlies it, or how findings hold under richer task conditions.

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We will shape the exact balance together at the start, based on what you want to get out of the internship.

 

We are looking for

• Curious about human-machine interaction and experimental research

• Skilled at formulating hypotheses, analyzing data statistically, and presenting findings clearly.

• Hands-on, independent, and comfortable in a small startup team

• Proactively recruit participants through outreach to universities, partner organisations, and relevant networks. This requires strong communication skills and comfort approaching people independently.

• Experienced with programming and data analysis (e.g. Python, C/C++, MATLAB)

• MSc student in Aerospace Engineering, Systems & Control, Human Factors, Biomedical Engineering, Cognitive Science, or a related field

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What we offer

• Direct exposure to real-world projects with defense and research partners

• Hands-on research role at the intersection of wearable technology, human performance, and defence innovation

• Opportunity to design, build, and test work that directly shapes the next generation wearables for human performance

• Mentorship from a strong team spanning human factors, cognitive science, and engineering 

• A dynamic start-up culture: ownership, creativity, and impact from day one

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Practical details

• Duration: 5–6 months, full-time 

• Start: September 2026

• Location: Eindhoven

• Internship allowance: €550 gross per month (full-time)

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Interested?

Send us a short note about what excites you about this project, along with your CV, to hello@touchwaves.io.