XR in ...
Education and Training
Can you explain this with XR?
Learn more about how XR is used in education and training!
Co-Working and Creativity
Can I meet you in XR?
Learn more about how XR is going to change the way we work and create together!
Therapy and
Health
Getting better with XR?
Learn more about how XR technologies can help in therapy and health related fields!
AI and Machine Learning
How can AI benefit from XR technology?
Learn more about how AI can be developed and improved with the help of XR!
Fundamental Research and Knowledge Transfer
How do we know all of this about XR?
Learn more about the fundamental research that is the basis for all XR applications!
News
Presentation of Minister Dr. Fabian Mehrings avatar during bits and pretzels
10 Oct 2024
More
The Summer EXPO 2024 for HCI/HCS, CS and GE was a great success! A large number of visitors were able to experience up to 120 different demos and projects.
19 Jul 2024
More
On July 04th, 2024, the XR Hub Würzburg will be present at the XR Day in Nuremberg, showcasing as an exhibitor from 14:30 onwards. Join us to witness the latest XR advancements and immerse yourself in the future of technology!
04 Jul 2024
Go to website
The XR Hub participated in the XR Day at July, 4th 2024 at the IHK building in Nuremberg.
04 Jul 2024
More
This year's summer expo is on the 19th of July 2024. Feel free to visit and experience a lot of interesting projects.
18 Jun 2024
More
We presented the HiAvA project at the Transforming Media event
10 Jun 2024
More
The Girls' Day took place on April 25th, 2024, and was a great success! Together with the XR Hum Nuremberg we conducted parallel workshops where the girls got familiar with XR technologies and learned about the background of designing XR experiences.
25 Apr 2024
More
The XR Hub Würzburg and HiAvA attended the XR Expo in Stuttgart, where they made valuable connections with attendees from academia and industry.
04 Apr 2024
More
HCI, PIIS and PsyErgo their works at the IEEE VR 24 Conference in Orlando, Florida
21 Mar 2024
More
Bavaria's new Minister of Digital Affairs Dr. Fabian Mehring visited the University of Würzburg for the first time. He was visibly impressed by the projects and achievements of the XR Hub.
11 Mar 2024
More
In a recent appearance on the podcast 'Arbeit, Bildung, Zukunft,' Prof. Dr. Marc Erich Latoschik delved into the metaverse and its intersection with artificial intelligence. For a comprehensive exploration of these topics, tune in to the podcast on the 'Arbeit, Bildung, Zukunft' website.
25 Jan 2024
Go to website
Save-the-date: The winter Expo will take place on the 9th February!
11 Jan 2024
More
On November 14th, 2023, the XR Hub presented at this online event.
08 Jan 2024
More
The XR Hub participated in WueWW on Friday, November 17th, 2023, offering insights into the field of extended reality and showcasing its diverse applications.
20 Nov 2023
More
The XR-Hub Würzburg will join the Wuerzburg Web Week 2022 on 17th November! Make sure to be there to listen to our talk and try out our demonstrations."
03 Nov 2023
Go to website
On November 14th, 2023 the XR Hub will be presenting at this online event
25 Oct 2023
More
We can now be found in the Emil-Fischer-Straße 50 in Hubland North.
13 Sep 2023
More
The Summer EXPO 2023 for MCS/HCI, MK and GE was a great success! A large number of visitors were able to experience up to 120 different demos and projects.
24 Jul 2023
More
Are you interested in Games, Virtual Reality, Human-Computer Interaction, and Science? Then this will be the right event for you!
18 Jul 2023
More
On July 6th, the XR Hub visited the XR Day in Nuremberg in order to showcase the demo 'Virtually Me' and to exchange ideas with XR experts from different fields.
12 Jul 2023
More
On July 6th, 2023, the XR Hub Würzburg will be present at the XR Day in Nuremberg, showcasing as an exhibitor from 16:45 onwards. Join us to witness the latest XR advancements and immerse yourself in the future of technology!
28 Jun 2023
Go to website
On June 16th at 1pm the XR Hub Würzburg hosts the event 'Dive into XR' for the Digitaltag 2023. Among other things, visitors will have the opportunity to experience different tracking solutions in the newly established motion capture lab.
24 May 2023
Go to website
As part of the project 'XR versus soil erosion', the XR-Hub visited the Bayerische Digitalgipfel in Munich.
23 May 2023
More
The Girls' Day took place on April 27th, 2023, and was a great success!Together with the XR Hum Nuremberg we conducted parallel workshops where the girls got familiar with XR technologies and learned about the background of designing XR experiences.
10 May 2023
More
Wuertual Reality, a premiere conference in the field of XR was held last week right here in Würzburg.
17 Apr 2023
More
The 30th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEEVR 2023) was a great success.
13 Apr 2023
More
From April 11th to 13th, the Würtual Reality XR Meeting 2023 will take place at the University of Würzburg, Germany. The HCI Chair offers various demonstrations as well as talks on current research issues for the participants.
07 Mar 2023
More
We are very pleased to present our research at this year's IEEE VR.
02 Mar 2023
More
On the 23rd and 24th of February we visited the AI.BAY 2023 in Munich on order to support the CAIDAS and to showcase two of our current projects together with the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIRO).
27 Feb 2023
More
The Free State of Bavaria supports the XR Hub Würzburg with 730,000 € for another two years. Digital Minister Judith Gerlach handed over the funding certificate to the XR Hub Würzburg.
17 Feb 2023
More
The Winter EXPO 2023 for MCS and HCI was a great success! We thank all the contributors and guests for participating.
14 Feb 2023
More
Save-the-date: The winter Expo will take place on the 10th February!
09 Jan 2023
More
Together with the XR HUB Nuremberg and Labs Network Industrie 4.0 e.V. we organized the online event "XR MEETS FUTURE WORK".
22 Nov 2022
More
Carolin Wienrich, Marc Latoschik, and Andreas Hotho visited the Bavarian Digital Summit.
21 Nov 2022
More
On November 15th 2022, starting at 14:00, the event "XR meets future work" will take place via zoom.
07 Nov 2022
More
We are very honored that we got the chance to present our IEEE VR Journal Paper „Breaking Plausibility Without Breaking Presence - Evidence For The Multi-Layer Nature Of Plausibility“ as one of 12 invited high-impact papers at the IEEE VIS.
06 Nov 2022
More
The XR Hub hosted an event for the WueWW on Wednesday, the 26nd of October 2021 to give an insight into the world of extended reality and to showcase potentials and fields of application of XR.
06 Nov 2022
More
The XR-Hub Würzburg is happy to report 2 sucessful days at the XR Week in Stuttgart .
20 Sep 2022
More
The XR-Hub Würzburg will join the Wuerzburg Web Week 2022 on 26th October! Make sure to be there to listen to our talk and try out our demonstrations.
20 Sep 2022
Go to website
On September 29, 2022, Prof. Latoschik will give a talk on Megatrend XR and the Metaverse at the kick-off Event for the 4th Year of BayFiD.
19 Sep 2022
More
On October 19, 2022, Prof. Latoschik and Prof. Wienrich will speak at "Würzbürger Impulse: Künstliche Intelligenz und Robotik in der Medizin"
19 Sep 2022
More
On September 15th and 16th the XR-Hub Würzburg will be part of the XR Week in Stuttgart.
13 Sep 2022
More
The Summer EXPO 2022 for MCS/HCI, MK and GE was a great success! We thank all the contributors and guests for participating.
29 Jul 2022
More
The XR-Hub Würzburg is pleased to report a sucessful day at the XR Day in Nuremberg 7th of July.
07 Jul 2022
More
Summer Expo 2022 will take place on 29th of July 2022.
15 Jun 2022
Go to website
On July 7, 2022, the XR Hub Würzburg will attend the XR Day in Nuremberg.
14 Jun 2022
More
On May 24th, the XR Hub went on an excursion in order to be part of the "Media meets Health" event in Munich.
13 Jun 2022
More
The XR-Hub was part of an extended reality event organized by the Bavarian Business Association on May 23rd.
13 Jun 2022
More
The MEDIA meets HEALTH event in Munich will take place on May 24th. The ViTraS project will be showcased and the XR Hub will be present.
16 May 2022
More
The XR Hub hosted an event for the WueWW on Friday, the 22nd of October 2021 to give an insight into the world of extended reality and to showcase fields of application of XR.
22 Oct 2021
More
Save-the-date: The 2nd Demo Day of the Bavarian Innovation Labs will take place as an online event on Tuesday, October 12, 2021.
08 Oct 2021
More
The XR Hub Würzburg is thrilled to announce that we will participate in the WueWW! Join our talk and make sure to check out all of the other incredible events.
04 Oct 2021
Go to website
The Places_ VR Festival took place from 16th to 18th of September in Gelsenkirchen. The master thesis 'TooCloseVR', which is affiliated with the XR Hub Würzburg, was nominated for the Best Impact category of the DIVR Science Award.
16 Sep 2021
More
On September 10th the XR Hub was invited for a talk about the possibilities and advantages of XR technologies for innovations.
10 Sep 2021
Go to website
The Human-Computer, Games and Informatics Expo will take place on 16th of July 2021.
15 Jun 2021
Go to website
Check out the new video on networking in the XR community & how to help implement new ideas.
28 May 2021
Go to website
Together with Bavarian Minister of State Judith Gerlach the XR Hub gave a masterclass called "Dive into XR – use cases and outlook" at Bits&Pretezls 2020.
02 Oct 2020
More
The XR Hub is excited to announce that we will give a masterclass called "XR – Key to your Success" at the Bits&Pretzels 2020. Join us on Friday, October 2nd, at 3:40 pm when avatars explain extended reality!
27 Sep 2020
Go to website
Judith Gerlach, the Bavarian Minister of State for Digital Affairs, visited the HCI and HTS chair on Tuesday, 4th August.
04 Aug 2020
More
A Center for Artificial Intelligence in Data Science (CAIDAS) is being established at the University of Würzburg. Minister of State Dorothee Bär has informed herself about its research.
30 Jul 2020
More
On the 21st of July representatives of XR affiliated companies met for the 1st Industrial Think Tank organized by the XR Hub Würzburg.
21 Jul 2020
More
The project ViLeArn was presented at the Digital Day Bavaria 2020. As part of the XR-Hub slot, the current prototype of project ViLeArn was streamed via Zoom.
19 Jun 2020
More
The potential of virtual and augmented reality in schools is great, and this has been scientifically proven. But how do you get teachers to actually use XR? Sebastian Oberdörfer talks about it in the 7th episode of the XR podcast.
14 May 2020
Go to website
This DECH'17 workshop paper explores methods to work with digital image libraries, from the creation of 3D or in extension time-annotated 4D models, to the eventual dissemination of research findings in teaching/learning scenarios. Pedagogical approaches for learning objectives and methods for including Augmented Reality in mobile learning environments are reviewed.
02 Mar 2020
More
This TVCG'18 best journal paper investigates how personalized and individualized avatars affect body ownership, presence, and emotional response. Several significant as well as a number of notable effects were found, most notably that personalized avatars significantly increase body ownership.
02 Mar 2020
More
This TVCG'19 journal paper investigates performance and user experience of Social Virtual Reality (SVR) targeting distributed, embodied, and immersive, face-to-face encounters. As one result, a user study reveals positive effects of an increasing number of co-located social companions on the quality of experience of virtual worlds.
02 Mar 2020
More
This ICMI'19 *Best Paper Runner Up* article presents a speech and gesture-based interaction paradigm for creative design tasks in VR. The multimodal approach resulted in several advantages, including improved perceived usability, an increased sense of flow and a higher sense of presence.
02 Mar 2020
More
On the 7th of February, academic representatives of Bavarian research groups gathered to conduct the first Think Tank Academic Research in XR.
07 Feb 2020
More
On January 24th, the XR Hub Würzburg and XR Hub Munich Team made an excursion to our colleagues at the FH Upper Austria, Hagenberg Campus to visit their second Mixed Reality Day, organized by Prof. Christoph Anthes.
24 Jan 2020
More
Virtual reality, extended reality, human-computer interaction in education and training - these are the topics of Prof. Marc Latoschik's lecture on 24.01.2020 at 13:00 in the Aquarium of FOS/BOS Kitzingen.
23 Jan 2020
More
The Bavarian Ministry of Digital Affairs is creating a competence centers for key technologies in the field of eXtended Reality, called 'XR Hubs', that will network small and medium-sized companies in Bavaria and support them in technology transfer. In addition to a central hub in Munich, 500,000 € per year are invested in regional hubs. The XR Hub Lower Franconia will cooperate with the HCI chair Würzburg.
27 Sep 2019
Go to website
Judith Gerlach, the Bavarian Minister of State for Digital Affairs, visited the chair HCI on Monday, 29th April.
24 Apr 2019
More
Show more
Peter Kullmann, Theresa Schell, Timo Menzel, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, Coverage of Facial Expressions and Its Effects on Avatar Embodiment, Self-Identification, and Uncanniness, In IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, pp. 1-10. 2025.
[BibTeX][Abstract][BibSonomy][Doi]
[BibTeX][Abstract][BibSonomy][Doi]
@article{kullmann2025coverage,
title = {Coverage of Facial Expressions and Its Effects on Avatar Embodiment, Self-Identification, and Uncanniness},
author = {Kullmann, Peter and Schell, Theresa and Menzel, Timo and Botsch, Mario and Latoschik, Marc Erich},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics},
year = {2025},
pages = {1-10},
doi = {10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549887}
}
Abstract: Facial expressions are crucial for many eXtended Reality (XR) use cases, from mirrored self exposures to social XR, where users interact via their avatars as digital alter egos. However, current XR devices differ in sensor coverage of the face region. Hence, a faithful reconstruction of facial expressions either has to exclude these areas or synthesize missing animation data with model-based approaches, potentially leading to perceivable mismatches between executed and perceived expression. This paper investigates potential effects of the coverage of facial animations (none, partial, or whole) on important factors of self-perception. We exposed 83 participants to their mirrored personalized avatar. They were shown their mirrored avatar face with upper and lower face animation, upper face animation only, lower face animation only, or no face animation. Whole animations were rated higher in virtual embodiment and slightly lower in uncanniness. Missing animations did not differ from partial ones in terms of virtual embodiment. Contrasts showed significantly lower humanness, lower eeriness, and lower attractiveness for the partial conditions. For questions related to self-identification, effects were mixed. We discuss participants' shift in body part attention across conditions. Qualitative results show participants perceived their virtual representation as fascinating yet uncanny.
Lena Holderrieth, Erik Wolf, Marie Luisa Fiedler, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, Carolin Wienrich, Do You Feel Better? The Impact of Embodying Photorealistic Avatars with Ideal Body Weight on Attractiveness and Self-Esteem in Virtual Reality, In 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW), pp. 1404-1405. IEEE Computer Science, 2025. Best Poster 🏆
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{holderrieth2025better,
title = {Do You Feel Better? The Impact of Embodying Photorealistic Avatars with Ideal Body Weight on Attractiveness and Self-Esteem in Virtual Reality},
author = {Holderrieth, Lena and Wolf, Erik and Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Botsch, Mario and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin},
booktitle = {2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW)},
year = {2025},
pages = {1404-1405},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Science},
note = {Best Poster 🏆},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2025-ieeevr-holderrieth-do-you-feel-better.pdf}
}
Abstract: Body weight issues can manifest in low self-esteem through a negative body image or the feeling of unattractiveness. To explore potential interventions, the pilot study examined whether embodying a photorealistically personalized avatar with enhanced attractiveness affects self-esteem. Participants in the manipulation group adjusted their avatar's body weight to their self-defined ideal, while a control group used unmodified avatars. To confirm the manipulation, we measured the perceived avatars' attractiveness. Results showed that participants found avatars at their ideal weight significantly more attractive, confirming an effective manipulation. Further, the ideal weight group showed a clear trend towards higher self-esteem post-exposure.
Christian Merz, Carolin Wienrich, Marc Erich Latoschik, Does Task Matter? Task-Dependent Effects of Cross-Device Collaboration on Social Presence, In 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW). IEEE Computer Science, 2025.
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy][Doi]
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy][Doi]
@inproceedings{merz2025taskasymmetry,
title = {Does Task Matter? Task-Dependent Effects of Cross-Device Collaboration on Social Presence},
author = {Merz, Christian and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich},
booktitle = {2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW)},
year = {2025},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Science},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2025-ieeevrw-task-cross-device.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/VRW66409.2025.00116}
}
Abstract: In this work, we explored asymmetric collaboration under two distinct tasks: collaborative sorting and conversational talking tasks. We answer the research question of how different tasks impact the user experience in asymmetric interaction. Our mixed design compared one symmetric and one asymmetric interaction and two tasks, assessing self-perception (presence, embodiment), other-perception (co-presence, social presence, plausibility), and task perception (task load, enjoyment). 52 participants collaborated in dyads on the two tasks, either using head-mounted displays (HMDs) or one participant using an HMD and the other a desktop setup. Results indicate that differences in social presence diminished or disappeared during the purely conversational talking task in comparison to the sorting task. This indicates that differences in how we perceive a social interaction, which is caused by asymmetric interaction, only occur during specific use cases. These findings underscore the critical role of task characteristics in shaping users’ social XR experiences and highlight that asymmetric collaboration can be effective across different use cases and is even on par with symmetric interaction during conversations.
Marie Luisa Fiedler, Arne Bürger, Sabrina Mittermeier, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, Carolin Wienrich, Evaluating VR and AR Mirror Exposure for Anorexia Nervosa Therapy in Adolescents: A Method Proposal for Understanding Stakeholder Perspectives, In 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW), pp. 965-970. IEEE Computer Science, 2025.
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{fiedler2025evaluating,
title = {Evaluating VR and AR Mirror Exposure for Anorexia Nervosa Therapy in Adolescents: A Method Proposal for Understanding Stakeholder Perspectives},
author = {Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Bürger, Arne and Mittermeier, Sabrina and Botsch, Mario and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin},
booktitle = {2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW)},
year = {2025},
pages = {965-970},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Science},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2025-ieeevr-fiedler-stakeholder-focus-group-proposal.pdf}
}
Abstract: Body image distortions in anorexia nervosa pose significant therapeutic challenges, requiring innovative interventions. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies offer promising solutions, yet stakeholder preferences, from therapists and patients, remain unexplored. This methodological proposal outlines focus groups to compare VR and AR mirror exposures using personalized and body-weight-modifiable avatars in anorexia nervosa therapy. Therapists will evaluate therapeutic potential, risks, and practicality, while adolescent patients will assess comfort, stress responses, and usability. The findings aim to advance the user-centered integration of VR and AR into anorexia nervosa therapy, addressing critical treatment gaps.
Franziska Westermeier, Chandni Murmu, Kristopher Kohm, Christopher Pagano, Carolin Wienrich, Sabarish V. Babu, Marc Erich Latoschik, Interpupillary to Inter-Camera Distance of Video See-Through AR and its Impact on Depth Perception, In Proceedings of the 32nd IEEE Virtual Reality conference (VR '25), pp. 537-547. 2025.
[BibTeX][Abstract][BibSonomy][Doi]
[BibTeX][Abstract][BibSonomy][Doi]
@inproceedings{westermeier2025interpupillary,
title = {Interpupillary to Inter-Camera Distance of Video See-Through AR and its Impact on Depth Perception},
author = {Westermeier, Franziska and Murmu, Chandni and Kohm, Kristopher and Pagano, Christopher and Wienrich, Carolin and V. Babu, Sabarish and Latoschik, Marc Erich},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 32nd IEEE Virtual Reality conference (VR '25)},
year = {2025},
pages = {537-547},
doi = {10.1109/VR59515.2025.00077}
}
Abstract: Interpupillary distance (IPD) is a crucial characteristic of head-mounted displays (HMDs) because it defines an important property for generating a stereoscopic parallax, which is essential for correct depth perception. This is why contemporary HMDs offer adjustable lenses to adapt to users' individual IPDs.
However, today's Video See-Through Augmented Reality (VST AR) HMDs use fixed camera placements to reconstruct the stereoscopic view of a user's environment.
This leads to a potential mismatch between individual IPD settings and the fixed Inter-Camera Distances (ICD), which in turn can lead to perceptual incongruencies, limiting the usability and potentially the applicability of VST AR in depth-sensitive use cases. To investigate this incongruency between IPD and ICD, we conducted a 2x3 mixed-factor design empirical evaluation using a near-field, open-loop reaching task comparing distance judgments of Virtual Reality (VR) and VST AR. We also explored improvements in reaching performance via perceptual calibration by incorporating a feedback phase between pre- and post-phase conditions, with a particular focus on the influence of IPD-ICD differences. Our Linear Mixed Model (LMM) analysis showed a significant difference between VR and VST AR, a significant effect of IPD-ICD mismatch, as well as a combined effect of both factors. This novel insight and its consequences are discussed specifically for depth perception tasks in AR, eXtended Reality (XR), and potential use cases.
Smi Hinterreiter, Martin Wessel, Fabian Schliski, Isao Echizen, Marc Erich Latoschik, Timo Spinde, NewsUnfold: Creating a News-Reading Application That Indicates Linguistic Media Bias and Collects Feedback, In Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, Vol. 19. 2025. Conditionally accepted for publication
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
@article{hinterreiter2025newsunfold,
title = {NewsUnfold: Creating a News-Reading Application That Indicates Linguistic Media Bias and Collects Feedback},
author = {Hinterreiter, Smi and Wessel, Martin and Schliski, Fabian and Echizen, Isao and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Spinde, Timo},
journal = {Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media},
year = {2025},
volume = {19},
note = {Conditionally accepted for publication},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.17045}
}
Abstract: Media bias is a multifaceted problem, leading to one-sided views and impacting decision-making. A way to address digital media bias is to detect and indicate it automatically through machine-learning methods. However, such detection is limited due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable training data. Human-in-the-loop-based feedback mechanisms have proven an effective way to facilitate the data-gathering process. Therefore, we introduce and test feedback mechanisms for the media bias domain, which we then implement on NewsUnfold, a news-reading web application to collect reader feedback on machine-generated bias highlights within online news articles. Our approach augments dataset quality by significantly increasing inter-annotator agreement by 26.31% and improving classifier performance by 2.49%. As the first human-in-the-loop application for media bias, the feedback mechanism shows that a user-centric approach to media bias data collection can return reliable data while being scalable and evaluated as easy to use. NewsUnfold demonstrates that feedback mechanisms are a promising strategy to reduce data collection expenses and continuously update datasets to changes in context.
Marie Luisa Fiedler, Mario Botsch, Carolin Wienrich, Marc Erich Latoschik, Self-Similarity Beats Motor Control in Augmented Reality Body Weight Perception, In IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), IEEE VR 25 special issue. 2025. Honorable Mention 🏆
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy][Doi]
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy][Doi]
@article{fiedler2025selfsimilarity,
title = {Self-Similarity Beats Motor Control in Augmented Reality Body Weight Perception},
author = {Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Botsch, Mario and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG), IEEE VR 25 special issue},
year = {2025},
note = {Honorable Mention 🏆},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2025-ieeevr-fiedler-self-similarity-beats-motor-control.pdf},
doi = {10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549851}
}
Abstract: This paper investigates if and how self-similarity and having motor control impact sense of embodiment, self-identification, and body weight perception in Augmented Reality (AR). We conducted a 2x2 mixed design experiment involving 60 participants who interacted with either synchronously moving virtual humans or independently moving ones, each with self-similar or generic appearances, across two consecutive AR sessions. Participants evaluated their sense of embodiment, self-identification, and body weight perception of the virtual human. Our results show that self-similarity significantly enhanced sense of embodiment, self-identification, and the accuracy of body weight estimates with the virtual human. However, the effects of having motor control over the virtual human movements were notably weaker in these measures than in similar VR studies. Further analysis indicated that not only the virtual human itself but also the participants' body weight, self-esteem, and body shape concerns predict body weight estimates across all conditions. Our work advances the understanding of virtual human body weight perception in AR systems, emphasizing the importance of factors such as coherence with the real-world environment.
Jonathan Tschanter, Christian Merz, Carolin Wienrich, Marc Erich Latoschik, Towards Understanding Harassment in Social Virtual Reality: A Study Design on the Impact of Avatar Self-Similarity, In 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW). IEEE Computer Science, 2025. IDEATExR Best Paper 🏆
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
[BibTeX][Abstract][Download][BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{tschanter2025harassment,
title = {Towards Understanding Harassment in Social Virtual Reality: A Study Design on the Impact of Avatar Self-Similarity},
author = {Tschanter, Jonathan and Merz, Christian and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich},
booktitle = {2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW)},
year = {2025},
publisher = {IEEE Computer Science},
note = {IDEATExR Best Paper 🏆},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2025-ieeevrw-towards-understanding-harassment-in-social-virtual-reality.pdf}
}
Abstract: In social virtual reality (VR), harassment persists as a pervasive and critical issue. Prior work emphasizes its perceived realness and emotional impact. However, the influence of avatar design, particularly the role of self-similarity, remains underexplored. Self-similar avatars can enhance user identification and engagement, yet potentially intensify the psychological and physiological effects of harassment. Existing studies often rely on interviews or user-generated content, lacking systematic analysis and controlled comparisons. To address these gaps, we present a process for creating realistic VR harassment scenarios. We built a scenario based on existing literature and validated it with expert reviews and user feedback. We propose a 2 x 2 between-subjects design to systematically examine users' emotional and physiological states, their identification with avatars, and the effects of avatar self-similarity. The study design will deepen the understanding of harassment dynamics in VR. Additionally, it can provide actionable insights for designing safer, more inclusive virtual environments that promote user well-being and foster equitable communities.
