2026
Florian Kern, Lukas Polifke, Paula Friedrich, Marc Erich Latoschik, Carolin Wienrich, David Obremski,
CECA - A Configurable Framework for Embodied Conversational AI Agents in Extended Reality, In
2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW).
2026. To be published
[BibTeX]
[Abstract]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{kern2026configurable,
author = {Florian Kern and Lukas Polifke and Paula Friedrich and Marc Erich Latoschik and Carolin Wienrich and David Obremski},
year = {2026},
booktitle = {2026 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)},
title = {CECA - A Configurable Framework for Embodied Conversational AI Agents in Extended Reality}
}
Abstract:
We present CECA, a configurable framework for embodied conversational AI agents in Unity-based extended reality (XR) applications. CECA employs a client–server architecture to decouple agent logic from game engine–based embodiment. Built on LiveKit Agents, our approach integrates speech-to-text (STT), large language models (LLMs), and text-to-speech (TTS) into a unified, streaming voice-to-voice pipeline configured via metadata rather than code changes. We outline how this architecture flexibly integrates local and cloud AI providers while mitigating limited provider SDK support in Unity. Finally, we highlight opportunities for future work, including multi-agent scenarios, higher-level templates for XR research, and systematic user studies.
David Obremski, Paula Friedrich, Carolin Wienrich,
To be Healed or Hacked? - User‑Centered Ethical Design for Embodied AI in Mental Health Care, In
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.
2026. To be published
[BibTeX]
[Abstract]
[BibSonomy]
@article{obremski2026healed,
author = {David Obremski and Paula Friedrich and Carolin Wienrich},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics},
year = {2026},
title = {To be Healed or Hacked? - User‑Centered Ethical Design for Embodied AI in Mental Health Care}
}
Abstract:
The global prevalence of mental health disorders has created a substantial treatment gap. To support clinicians and increase access to care, researchers in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) have investigated technology-mediated psychotherapy for years.
However, research about stakeholders' concerns and their readiness to use AI in psychotherapy remains scarce. This study focuses on a user-centered approach to accommodate patients' concerns and, based on the results, implement measures to foster self-disclosure and trust towards an embodied AI therapist in VR.
First, we conducted an online study with mental health patients ($N = 152$), which identified data autonomy and transparency as their primary ethical concerns. In a subsequent in-person VR study ($N = 90$) we compared effects of increased data autonomy and transparency on self-disclosure and trust towards an embodied AI therapist.
Results indicated that higher data autonomy led to greater self-disclosure, while transparency had no significant effect. Manipulating data autonomy and transparency did not affect perceived trust, though exploratory calculations revealed that women reported significantly higher trust levels than men. These findings illuminate patients' priorities and provide implications for technical designs for AI-driven mental health care.
2025
David Obremski, Paula Friedrich, Carolin Wienrich,
Please Let Me Think: The Influence of Conversational Fillers on Transparency and Perception of Waiting Time when Interacting with a Conversational AI in Virtual Reality, In
Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction, pp. 496--505.
2025.
[BibTeX]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{obremski2025please,
author = {David Obremski and Paula Friedrich and Carolin Wienrich},
url = {http://dblp.uni-trier.de/db/conf/icmi/icmi2025.html#ObremskiFW25},
year = {2025},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction},
pages = {496--505},
title = {Please Let Me Think: The Influence of Conversational Fillers on Transparency and Perception of Waiting Time when Interacting with a Conversational AI in Virtual Reality}
}
Abstract:
2022
David Obremski, Helena Babette Hering, Paula Friedrich, Birgit Lugrin,
Exploratory Study on the Perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents With Non-Native Accents Using Synthetic and Natural Speech in German, In
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMODAL INTERACTION.
ACM,
2022.
[BibTeX]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@inproceedings{Obremski_2022,
author = {David Obremski and Helena Babette Hering and Paula Friedrich and Birgit Lugrin},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3536221.3556608},
year = {2022},
booktitle = {INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MULTIMODAL INTERACTION},
publisher = {ACM},
doi = {10.1145/3536221.3556608},
title = {Exploratory Study on the Perception of Intelligent Virtual Agents With Non-Native Accents Using Synthetic and Natural Speech in German}
}
Abstract:
David Obremski, Helena Babette Hering, Paula Friedrich, Birgit Lugrin,
Mixed-Cultural Speech for Intelligent Virtual Agents - the Impact of Different Non-Native Accents Using Natural or Synthetic Speech in the English Language, In
HAI '22: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, pp. 67-75.
ACM,
2022.
[BibTeX]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@inproceedings{Obremski_HAI_Paper_2022,
author = {David Obremski and Helena Babette Hering and Paula Friedrich and Birgit Lugrin},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3527188.3561921},
year = {2022},
booktitle = {HAI '22: International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction},
publisher = {ACM},
pages = {67-75},
doi = {10.1145/3527188.3561921},
title = {Mixed-Cultural Speech for Intelligent Virtual Agents - the Impact of Different Non-Native Accents Using Natural or Synthetic Speech in the English Language}
}
Abstract:
David Obremski, Paula Friedrich, Nora Haak, Philipp Schaper, Birgit Lugrin,
The impact of mixed-cultural speech on the stereotypical perception of a virtual robot, In
Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Vol. 9.
Frontiers Media SA,
2022.
[BibTeX]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@article{Obremski_2022,
author = {David Obremski and Paula Friedrich and Nora Haak and Philipp Schaper and Birgit Lugrin},
journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffrobt.2022.983955},
year = {2022},
publisher = {Frontiers Media SA},
volume = {9},
doi = {10.3389/frobt.2022.983955},
title = {The impact of mixed-cultural speech on the stereotypical perception of a virtual robot}
}
Abstract:
2021
Sophia C. Steinhaeusser, Philipp Schaper, Ohenewa Bediako Akuffo, Paula Friedrich, Jülide Ön, Birgit Lugrin,
Anthropomorphize me! - Effects of Robot Gender on Listeners' Perception of the Social Robot NAO in a Storytelling Use Case, In
Cindy Bethel, Ana Paiva, Elizabeth Broadbent, David Feil-Seifer, Daniel Szafir (Eds.), Companion of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2021).
ACM,
2021.
[BibTeX]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@inproceedings{Steinhaeusser_2021,
author = {Sophia C. Steinhaeusser and Philipp Schaper and Ohenewa Bediako Akuffo and Paula Friedrich and Jülide Ön and Birgit Lugrin},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3434074.3447228},
year = {2021},
booktitle = {Companion of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2021)},
editor = {Cindy Bethel and Ana Paiva and Elizabeth Broadbent and David Feil-Seifer and Daniel Szafir},
publisher = {ACM},
doi = {10.1145/3434074.3447228},
title = {Anthropomorphize me! - Effects of Robot Gender on Listeners' Perception of the Social Robot NAO in a Storytelling Use Case}
}
Abstract:
2020
Sander Münster, Florian Niebling, Jonas Bruschke, Kristina Barthel, Kristina Friedrichs, Cindy Kröber, Ferdinand Maiwald,
Urban History Research and Discovery in the Age of Digital Repositories. A Report About Users and Requirements, In
Horst Kremers (Eds.), Digital Cultural Heritage, pp. 63--84. Cham:
Springer International Publishing,
2020.
[BibTeX]
[Abstract]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@inbook{Münster2020,
author = {Sander Münster and Florian Niebling and Jonas Bruschke and Kristina Barthel and Kristina Friedrichs and Cindy Kröber and Ferdinand Maiwald},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15200-0_5},
year = {2020},
booktitle = {Digital Cultural Heritage},
editor = {Horst Kremers},
publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
address = {Cham},
pages = {63--84},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-15200-0_5},
title = {Urban History Research and Discovery in the Age of Digital Repositories. A Report About Users and Requirements}
}
Abstract:
The research group on four-dimensional research and communication of urban history (HistStadt4D) investigates and develops methods and technologies to transfer extensive repositories of historical photographs and their contextual information into a three-dimensional spatial model, with an additional temporal component. This will make content accessible to researchers and the public, via a 4D browser as well as a location-dependent augmented reality representation. Against this background, this article highlights users and requirements of both scholarly and touristic usage of digital information about urban history, in particular historical photographs.
2018
Florian Niebling, Ferdinand Maiwald, Kristina Barthel, Marc Erich Latoschik,
4D Augmented City Models, Photogrammetric Creation and Dissemination, In
Sander Münster, Kristina Friedrichs, Florian Niebling, Agnieszka Seidel-Grzesińska (Eds.), Digital Research and Education in Architectural Heritage, pp. 196--212. Cham:
Springer International Publishing,
2018.
[BibTeX]
[Abstract]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@inproceedings{10.1007/978-3-319-76992-9_12,
author = {Florian Niebling and Ferdinand Maiwald and Kristina Barthel and Marc Erich Latoschik},
url = {https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2018-uhdl-augmented-city-models-niebling-preprint.pdf},
year = {2018},
booktitle = {Digital Research and Education in Architectural Heritage},
editor = {Sander Münster and Kristina Friedrichs and Florian Niebling and Agnieszka Seidel-Grzesińska},
publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
address = {Cham},
pages = {196--212},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-76992-9_12},
title = {4D Augmented City Models, Photogrammetric Creation and Dissemination}
}
Abstract:
The availability of digital image repositories of historical photographs offers new possibilities to historians in their research. In addition to representing a large collection of data records themselves, image archives allow for new methods of research, from large-scale statistical analysis, to algorithmic generation of knowledge, such as historical 3D models, directly from these sources. In this paper, we explore 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. We review pedagogical approaches to reach different learning objectives, as well as methods that allow for the inclusion of historic city models employing Augmented Reality in mobile learning environments.
Sander Münster, Kristina Friedrichs, Florian Niebling, Agnieszka Seidel-Grzesińska (Eds.),
Digital Research and Education in Architectural Heritage, Vol. 817.
Springer International Publishing,
2018.
[BibTeX]
[BibSonomy]
[Doi]
@book{10.1007/978-3-319-76992-9,
author = {},
year = {2018},
editor = {Sander Münster and Kristina Friedrichs and Florian Niebling and Agnieszka Seidel-Grzesińska},
publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
series = {Communications in Computer and Information Science},
volume = {817},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-76992-9},
title = {Digital Research and Education in Architectural Heritage}
}
Abstract:
Florian Niebling, Sander Münster, Jonas Bruschke, Ferdinand Maiwald, Kristina Friedrichs,
Stadtgeschichtliche Forschung anhand räumlich- und zeitlich verorteter Photographien, In
Manuel Burghardt, Claudia Müller-Birn (Eds.), INF-DH-2018. Bonn:
Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.,
2018.
[BibTeX]
[Download]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{mci/Niebling2018,
author = {Florian Niebling and Sander Münster and Jonas Bruschke and Ferdinand Maiwald and Kristina Friedrichs},
url = {https://dl.gi.de/bitstream/handle/20.500.12116/16999/INF-DH-2018_paper_2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y},
year = {2018},
booktitle = {INF-DH-2018},
editor = {Manuel Burghardt and Claudia Müller-Birn},
publisher = {Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.},
address = {Bonn},
title = {Stadtgeschichtliche Forschung anhand räumlich- und zeitlich verorteter Photographien}
}
Abstract:
2017
Sander Münster, Cindy Kröber, Kristina Friedrichs, Jonas Bruschke, Frank Henze, Florian Niebling,
Novel Approaches to research and discover urban history, In
Digital Humanities 2017: Conference Abstracts. Montréal, Canada.
2017.
[BibTeX]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{munster2017novel,
author = {Sander Münster and Cindy Kröber and Kristina Friedrichs and Jonas Bruschke and Frank Henze and Florian Niebling},
year = {2017},
booktitle = {Digital Humanities 2017: Conference Abstracts},
address = {Montréal, Canada},
title = {Novel Approaches to research and discover urban history}
}
Abstract:
Jonas Bruschke, Florian Niebling, Ferdinand Maiwald, Kristina Friedrichs, Markus Wacker, Marc Erich Latoschik,
Towards Browsing Repositories of Spatially Oriented Historic Photographic Images in 3D Web Environments, In
Proceedings of Web3D ’17, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
2017.
[BibTeX]
[Abstract]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{bruschke2017towards,
author = {Jonas Bruschke and Florian Niebling and Ferdinand Maiwald and Kristina Friedrichs and Markus Wacker and Marc Erich Latoschik},
year = {2017},
booktitle = {Proceedings of Web3D ’17, Brisbane, QLD, Australia},
title = {Towards Browsing Repositories of Spatially Oriented Historic Photographic Images in 3D Web Environments}
}
Abstract:
Archives and museums store vast collections of historical images of urban areas and make them publicly available through online platforms. Many of these images, often containing historic buildings and landscapes, can be oriented spatially using automatic methods such as structure from motion (SfM). Providing spatially and temporally oriented images of urban architecture, in combination with advanced searching and 2D/3D exploration techniques, offers new potentials in supporting historians in their research.
We are developing a 3D web environment usable to historians to spatially search online media repositories containing historic photographic images. We combine 3D models of historic buildings with spatially oriented images, replacing text-based searching through meta-data with spatial and temporal browsing with respect to given focus points in historic city models.
Sander Münster, Cindy Kröber, Kristina Friedrichs, Jonas Bruschke, Ferdinand Maiwald, Florian Niebling,
Urban History in 4 Dimensions - Supporting Research and Education, In
ISPRS Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Ottawa:
XXVI International CIPA Symposium,
2017.
[BibTeX]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{munster2017urban,
author = {Sander Münster and Cindy Kröber and Kristina Friedrichs and Jonas Bruschke and Ferdinand Maiwald and Florian Niebling},
journal = {ISPRS Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences},
year = {2017},
publisher = {XXVI International CIPA Symposium},
address = {Ottawa},
title = {Urban History in 4 Dimensions - Supporting Research and Education}
}
Abstract:
Florian Niebling, Sander Münster, Kristina Friedrichs, Frank Henze, Cindy Kröber, Jonas Bruschke,
Zugänglichkeit und dauerhafte Nutzbarkeit historischer Bildrepositorien für Forschung und Vermittlung, In
Michael Stolz (Eds.), Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum (DHd).
2017.
[BibTeX]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{niebling2017zugnglichkeit,
author = {Florian Niebling and Sander Münster and Kristina Friedrichs and Frank Henze and Cindy Kröber and Jonas Bruschke},
year = {2017},
booktitle = {Digital Humanities im deutschsprachigen Raum (DHd)},
editor = {Michael Stolz},
title = {Zugänglichkeit und dauerhafte Nutzbarkeit historischer Bildrepositorien für Forschung und Vermittlung}
}
Abstract:
2016
Sander Münster, Cindy Kröber, Kristina Friedrichs, Jonas Bruschke, Frank Henze, Florian Niebling,
Neue Wege stadtgeschichtlicher Forschung und Vermittlung, In
Andreas Bienert, Anko Börner, Eva Emenlauer-Blömers, James Hemsley (Eds.), Elektronische Medien & Kunst, Kultur und Historie (EVA), pp. 214-221.
2016.
[BibTeX]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{munster2016eva,
author = {Sander Münster and Cindy Kröber and Kristina Friedrichs and Jonas Bruschke and Frank Henze and Florian Niebling},
year = {2016},
booktitle = {Elektronische Medien & Kunst, Kultur und Historie (EVA)},
editor = {Andreas Bienert and Anko Börner and Eva Emenlauer-Blömers and James Hemsley},
pages = {214-221},
title = {Neue Wege stadtgeschichtlicher Forschung und Vermittlung}
}
Abstract:
Cindy Kröber, Sander Münster, Kristina Friedrichs, Florian Niebling,
Researching historic photos – Visualizations and potentials beyond the image.
2016.
[BibTeX]
[BibSonomy]
@inproceedings{krober2016researching,
author = {Cindy Kröber and Sander Münster and Kristina Friedrichs and Florian Niebling},
year = {2016},
title = {Researching historic photos – Visualizations and potentials beyond the image}
}
Abstract:
