Annalisa Degenhard
I’m a PhD student and research associate in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) group, which I joined in July 2022. My current research focuses on presence and trauma therapy in Virtual Reality — exploring how users interact with virtual environments depending on their sense of presence and .
Before starting my PhD, I completed both my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Media Informatics at Ulm University. I specialized in Usability Engineering and mobile application development. For my Bachelor’s thesis, I collaborated with the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to design a gamified mobile app that helps students in biochemistry prepare for their exams. During my Master’s, I partnered with Schultech GmbH to develop a mobile support tool for teachers, aimed at simplifying the handling of technical equipment in classrooms.
Presence Model
How can we conceptualize presence with respect to the occurence of different types of breaks in presence?
Locomotion within limited physical space
How do users interact with virtual environments when physical space is limited?
Realism in VR
What do different VR users understand by realism?
Current Research
Presence
My aim is to find approaches to presence that focus more on the symptoms of breaks in presence than on the experience of being there itself. Based on this approach, a questionnaire will be developed that allows for a more comprehensive assessment of VR experiences, even for VR novices.
Current Research
Trauma Therapy
In cooperation with the Bundeswehrkrankenhaus in Ulm and the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy I of Ulm University, we try to understand how VR exposure scenarios should be designed to enable effective therapy and to optime safety and acceptance at the same time. In cooperation with patients concerned, we explore user needs and the effects of different exposure level grading strategies.
VR Exposure for cPTSD
How should VR exposure scenarios be designed to fit patients' needs while optimizing effectivity and safety of VR exposure therapy?
AI-based Phobia Diagnosis
To what extent is AI capable of recognizing phobias based on physiological feedback?
Published Work
Presence
Annalisa Degenhard, Ali Askari, Michael Rietzler, Enrico Rukzio
In Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’25)
- Sensitivity and users' acceptance varies greatly depending on the choice of a presence questionnaire
- Single item scales may lead to greater uncertainty but provide a more general sensitivity
- Greater sensitivity must not necessarily mean greater compliance with users' actual experience.
Recent Events
German Pre CHI 2025 in Siegen
I had the honor to present my paper about the sensitivity and acceptance of presence questionnaires.
Paper published at CHI'25
Our paper about the sensitivity and acceptance of presence questionnaires got accepted at CHI'25 and will be presented in Yokohama at April 30th 2025!
Workshop on Generative AI and Accessibility
Our extended abstract got accepted at CHI'25. I am looking forward to inspiring discussions on the use of generative AI for trauma therapy!
Want to talk about Presence?
Let’s Have a Chat on Presence!
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