Philipp Krop, M.Sc.

Philipp Krop, M. Sc.

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter/PhD Student

philipp.krop@uni-wuerzburg.de

Psychologie Intelligenter Interaktiver Systeme
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Institut für Mensch-Computer-Medien
Universität Würzburg
Emil-Fischer-Straße 50
97074 Würzburg
Deutschland

About me

Philipp is part of both the HCI and the PIIS group. He studied Mensch-Computer-Systeme (B.Sc.) and Human-Computer-Interaction (M.Sc.) at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. He developed an Unreal & Unity-framework for interactive surfaces as a student worker in the XRoads project, before developing a mobile app for physicians to order clinical orders on the go as part of the DZ.PTM project. He now investigates social effects of virtual agents and how the visual design and framing of embodied AI in the work context shapes human perception and trust in AI, as part of the AIL AT WORK project and as part of his doctor’s thesis titled “From Tool to Companion: Investigating the Visual Design and Social Effects of Embedded & Embodied AI”.

Publications

2025[ to top ]

Krop, Philipp, David Obremski, Astrid Carolus, Marc Erich Latoschik, and Carolin Wienrich. “My Co-Worker ChatGPT: Development of an XR Application for Embodied Artificial Intelligence in Work Environments”. In 2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW). IEEE Computer Science, 2025.
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With recent developments in spatial computing, work contexts might shift to augmented reality. Embodied AI - virtual conversa- tional agents backed by AI systems - have the potential to enhance these contexts and open up more communication channels than just text. To support knowledge transfer from virtual agent research to the general populace, we developed My CoWorker ChatGPT - an interactive demo where employees can try out various embodied AIs in a virtual office or their own using augmented reality. We use state-of-the-art speech synthesis and body-scanning technology to create believable and trustworthy AI assistants. The demo was shown at multiple events throughout Germany, where it was well received and sparked fruitful conversations about the possibilities of embodied AI in work contexts.

@inproceedings{krop2025coworker, abstract = {With recent developments in spatial computing, work contexts might shift to augmented reality. Embodied AI - virtual conversa- tional agents backed by AI systems - have the potential to enhance these contexts and open up more communication channels than just text. To support knowledge transfer from virtual agent research to the general populace, we developed My CoWorker ChatGPT - an interactive demo where employees can try out various embodied AIs in a virtual office or their own using augmented reality. We use state-of-the-art speech synthesis and body-scanning technology to create believable and trustworthy AI assistants. The demo was shown at multiple events throughout Germany, where it was well received and sparked fruitful conversations about the possibilities of embodied AI in work contexts.}, author = {Krop, Philipp and Obremski, David and Carolus, Astrid and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin}, booktitle = {2025 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (IEEE VRW)}, keywords = {aiatwork}, month = {03}, note = {To be published.}, publisher = {IEEE Computer Science}, title = {My Co-worker ChatGPT: Development of an XR Application for Embodied Artificial Intelligence in Work Environments}, year = 2025 }

2024[ to top ]

Krop, Philipp, Martin J. Koch, Astrid Carolus, Marc Erich Latoschik, and Carolin Wienrich. “The Effects of Expertise, Humanness, and Congruence on Perceived Trust, Warmth, Competence and Intention to Use Embodied AI”. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’24), 9. New York, NY, USA: ACM, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3650749.
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Even though people imagine different embodiments when asked which AI they would like to work with, most studies investigate trust in AI systems without specific physical appearances. This study aims to close this gap by combining influencing factors of trust to analyze their impact on the perceived trustworthiness, warmth, and competence of an embodied AI. We recruited 68 par- ticipants who observed three co-working scenes with an embodied AI, presented as expert/novice (expertise), human/AI (humanness), or congruent/slightly incongruent to the environment (congruence). Our results show that the expertise condition had the largest im- pact on trust, acceptance, and perceived warmth and competence. When controlled for perceived competence, the humanness of the AI and the congruence of its embodiment to the environment also influence acceptance. The results show that besides expertise and the perceived competence of the AI, other design variables are rele- vant for successful human-AI interaction, especially when the AI is embodied.

@inproceedings{krop2024effects, abstract = {Even though people imagine different embodiments when asked which AI they would like to work with, most studies investigate trust in AI systems without specific physical appearances. This study aims to close this gap by combining influencing factors of trust to analyze their impact on the perceived trustworthiness, warmth, and competence of an embodied AI. We recruited 68 par- ticipants who observed three co-working scenes with an embodied AI, presented as expert/novice (expertise), human/AI (humanness), or congruent/slightly incongruent to the environment (congruence). Our results show that the expertise condition had the largest im- pact on trust, acceptance, and perceived warmth and competence. When controlled for perceived competence, the humanness of the AI and the congruence of its embodiment to the environment also influence acceptance. The results show that besides expertise and the perceived competence of the AI, other design variables are rele- vant for successful human-AI interaction, especially when the AI is embodied.}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, author = {Krop, Philipp and Koch, Martin J. and Carolus, Astrid and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin}, booktitle = {Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’24)}, keywords = {aiatwork}, month = {05}, organization = {ACM}, pages = 9, publisher = {ACM}, title = {The Effects of Expertise, Humanness, and Congruence on Perceived Trust, Warmth, Competence and Intention to Use Embodied AI}, year = 2024 }

2023[ to top ]

Kerwagen, Fabian, Konrad F. Fuchs, Melanie Ullrich, Andreas Schulze, Samantha Straka, Philipp Krop, Marc E. Latoschik, et al. “Usability of a {{Mhealth Solution}} Using {{Speech Recognition}} for {{Point-of-Care Diagnostic Management}}”. Journal of Medical Systems 47, no. 18 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-022-01896-y.
- [ Abstract ]
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The administrative burden for physicians in the hospital can affect the quality of patient care. The Service Center Medical Informatics (SMI) of the University Hospital W\"urzburg developed and implemented the smartphone-based mobile application (MA) ukw.mobile1 that uses speech recognition for the point-of-care ordering of radiological examinations. The aim of this study was to examine the usability of the MA workflow for the point-of-care ordering of radiological examinations. All physicians at the Department of Trauma and Plastic Surgery at the University Hospital W\"urzburg, Germany, were asked to participate in a survey including the short version of the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ-S) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). For the analysis of the different domains of user experience (overall attractiveness, pragmatic quality and hedonic quality), we used a two-sided dependent sample t-test. For the determinants of the acceptance model, we employed regression analysis. Twenty-one of 30 physicians (mean age 34\,{$\pm$}\,8 years, 62\% male) completed the questionnaire. Compared to the conventional desktop application (DA) workflow, the new MA workflow showed superior overall attractiveness (mean difference 2.15\,{$\pm$}\,1.33), pragmatic quality (mean difference 1.90\,{$\pm$}\,1.16), and hedonic quality (mean difference 2.41\,{$\pm$}\,1.62; all p\,{$<$}\,.001). The user acceptance measured by the UTAUT (mean 4.49\,{$\pm$}\,0.41; min. 1, max. 5) was also high. Performance expectancy (beta\,=\,0.57, p\,=\,.02) and effort expectancy (beta\,=\,0.36, p\,=\,.04) were identified as predictors of acceptance, the full predictive model explained 65.4\% of the variance. Point-of-care mHealth solutions using innovative technology such as speech-recognition seem to address the users' needs and to offer higher usability in comparison to conventional technology. Implementation of user-centered mHealth innovations might therefore help to facilitate physicians' daily work.

@article{kerwagen2023, abstract = {The administrative burden for physicians in the hospital can affect the quality of patient care. The Service Center Medical Informatics (SMI) of the University Hospital W\"urzburg developed and implemented the smartphone-based mobile application (MA) ukw.mobile1 that uses speech recognition for the point-of-care ordering of radiological examinations. The aim of this study was to examine the usability of the MA workflow for the point-of-care ordering of radiological examinations. All physicians at the Department of Trauma and Plastic Surgery at the University Hospital W\"urzburg, Germany, were asked to participate in a survey including the short version of the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ-S) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). For the analysis of the different domains of user experience (overall attractiveness, pragmatic quality and hedonic quality), we used a two-sided dependent sample t-test. For the determinants of the acceptance model, we employed regression analysis. Twenty-one of 30 physicians (mean age 34\,{$\pm$}\,8 years, 62\% male) completed the questionnaire. Compared to the conventional desktop application (DA) workflow, the new MA workflow showed superior overall attractiveness (mean difference 2.15\,{$\pm$}\,1.33), pragmatic quality (mean difference 1.90\,{$\pm$}\,1.16), and hedonic quality (mean difference 2.41\,{$\pm$}\,1.62; all p\,{$<$}\,.001). The user acceptance measured by the UTAUT (mean 4.49\,{$\pm$}\,0.41; min. 1, max. 5) was also high. Performance expectancy (beta\,=\,0.57, p\,=\,.02) and effort expectancy (beta\,=\,0.36, p\,=\,.04) were identified as predictors of acceptance, the full predictive model explained 65.4\% of the variance. Point-of-care mHealth solutions using innovative technology such as speech-recognition seem to address the users' needs and to offer higher usability in comparison to conventional technology. Implementation of user-centered mHealth innovations might therefore help to facilitate physicians' daily work.}, author = {Kerwagen, Fabian and Fuchs, Konrad F. and Ullrich, Melanie and Schulze, Andreas and Straka, Samantha and Krop, Philipp and Latoschik, Marc E. and Gilbert, Fabian and Kunz, Andreas and Fette, Georg and St{\"o}rk, Stefan and Ertl, Maximilian}, journal = {Journal of Medical Systems}, keywords = {latoschik}, number = 18, title = {Usability of a {{Mhealth Solution}} Using {{Speech Recognition}} for {{Point-of-care Diagnostic Management}}}, volume = 47, year = 2023 }
Krop, Philipp, Sebastian Oberdörfer, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “Traversing the Pass: Improving the Knowledge Retention of Serious Games Using a Pedagogical Agent”. In Proceedings of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents. Würzburg, Germany: Association for Computing Machinery, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1145/3570945.3607360.
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Machine learning is an essential aspect of modern life that many educational institutions incorporate into their curricula. Often, students struggle to grasp how neural networks learn. Teaching these concepts could be assisted with pedagogical agents and serious games, which both have proven helpful for complex topics like engineering. We present "Traversing the Pass," a serious game that utilizes a mentor-like agent to explain the underlying machine learning concepts and provides feedback. We optimized the agent’s design in a pre-study before evaluating its effectiveness compared to a text-only user interface with experts and students. Participants performed better in a second assessment two weeks later if they played the game using the agent. Although criticized as repetitive, the game created an understanding of basic machine learning concepts and achieved high flow values. Our results indicate that agents could be used to enhance the beneficial effects of serious games with improved knowledge retention.

@inproceedings{krop2023traversing, abstract = {Machine learning is an essential aspect of modern life that many educational institutions incorporate into their curricula. Often, students struggle to grasp how neural networks learn. Teaching these concepts could be assisted with pedagogical agents and serious games, which both have proven helpful for complex topics like engineering. We present "Traversing the Pass," a serious game that utilizes a mentor-like agent to explain the underlying machine learning concepts and provides feedback. We optimized the agent’s design in a pre-study before evaluating its effectiveness compared to a text-only user interface with experts and students. Participants performed better in a second assessment two weeks later if they played the game using the agent. Although criticized as repetitive, the game created an understanding of basic machine learning concepts and achieved high flow values. Our results indicate that agents could be used to enhance the beneficial effects of serious games with improved knowledge retention.}, address = {Würzburg, Germany}, author = {Krop, Philipp and Oberdörfer, Sebastian and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 23rd ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents}, keywords = {aiatwork}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, title = {Traversing the Pass: Improving the Knowledge Retention of Serious Games Using a Pedagogical Agent}, year = 2023 }

2022[ to top ]

Krop, Philipp, Samantha Straka, Melanie Ullrich, Maximilian Ertl, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “IT-Supported Request Management for Clinical Radiology: Contextual Design and Remote Prototype Testing”. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts, 1-8. CHI EA ’22. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3503571.
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Management of radiology requests in larger clinical contexts is characterized by a complex and distributed workflow. In our partner hospital, representing many similar clinics, these processes often still rely on exchanging physical papers and forms, making patient or case data challenging to access. This often leads to phone calls with long waiting queues, which are time-inefficient and result in frequent interrupts. We report on a user-centered design approach based on Rapid Contextual Design with an additional focus group to optimize and iteratively develop a new workflow. Participants found our prototypes fast and intuitive, the design clean and consistent, relevant information easy to access, and the request process fast and easy. Due to the COVID pandemic, we switched to remote prototype testing, which yielded equally good feedback and increased the participation rate. In the end, we propose best practices for remote prototype testing in hospitals with complex and distributed workflows.

@inproceedings{krop2022a, abstract = {Management of radiology requests in larger clinical contexts is characterized by a complex and distributed workflow. In our partner hospital, representing many similar clinics, these processes often still rely on exchanging physical papers and forms, making patient or case data challenging to access. This often leads to phone calls with long waiting queues, which are time-inefficient and result in frequent interrupts. We report on a user-centered design approach based on Rapid Contextual Design with an additional focus group to optimize and iteratively develop a new workflow. Participants found our prototypes fast and intuitive, the design clean and consistent, relevant information easy to access, and the request process fast and easy. Due to the COVID pandemic, we switched to remote prototype testing, which yielded equally good feedback and increased the participation rate. In the end, we propose best practices for remote prototype testing in hospitals with complex and distributed workflows.}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, author = {Krop, Philipp and Straka, Samantha and Ullrich, Melanie and Ertl, Maximilian and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, booktitle = {CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts}, keywords = {latoschik}, month = {04}, number = 45, pages = {1-8}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, series = {CHI EA '22}, title = {IT-Supported Request Management for Clinical Radiology: Contextual Design and Remote Prototype Testing}, year = 2022 }

2021[ to top ]

Krop, Philipp, Samantha Straka, Melanie Ullrich, Maximilian Ertl, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “IT-Supported Request Management for Clinical Radiology: Analyzing the Radiological Order Workflow through Contextual Interviews”. In Mensch Und Computer 2021 (MuC ’21), September 5-8, 2021, Ingolstadt, Germany, 1-7. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1145/3473856.3473992.
- [ Abstract ]
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Requests for radiological examinations in large medical facilities are a distributed and complex process with potential health-related risks for patients. A user-centered qualitative analysis with contextual interviews uncovered nine core problems, which hinder work efficiency and patient care: (1) Difficulties to access patient data & requests, (2) the large number of phone calls, (3) restricted & abused access rights, (4) request status difficult to track, (5) paper notes used for patient data, (6) lack of assistance for data entry, (7) frustration through documentation, (8) IT-systems not self-explanatory, and (9) conflict between physicians and radiologists.Contextual interviews were found to be a well fitting method to analyze and understand this complex process with multiple user roles. This analysis showed that there is room for improvement in the underlying IT systems, workflows and infrastructure. Our data gave useful insight into solutions to these problems and how we can use technology to improve all aspects of the request management. We are currently addressing those issues with a user-centered design process to design and implement a mobile application, which we will present in future work.

@inproceedings{kropstraka21, abstract = {Requests for radiological examinations in large medical facilities are a distributed and complex process with potential health-related risks for patients. A user-centered qualitative analysis with contextual interviews uncovered nine core problems, which hinder work efficiency and patient care: (1) Difficulties to access patient data & requests, (2) the large number of phone calls, (3) restricted & abused access rights, (4) request status difficult to track, (5) paper notes used for patient data, (6) lack of assistance for data entry, (7) frustration through documentation, (8) IT-systems not self-explanatory, and (9) conflict between physicians and radiologists.Contextual interviews were found to be a well fitting method to analyze and understand this complex process with multiple user roles. This analysis showed that there is room for improvement in the underlying IT systems, workflows and infrastructure. Our data gave useful insight into solutions to these problems and how we can use technology to improve all aspects of the request management. We are currently addressing those issues with a user-centered design process to design and implement a mobile application, which we will present in future work.}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, author = {Krop, Philipp and Straka, Samantha and Ullrich, Melanie and Ertl, Maximilian and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, booktitle = {Mensch und Computer 2021 (MuC '21), September 5-8, 2021, Ingolstadt, Germany}, keywords = {latoschik}, pages = {1-7}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, title = {IT-Supported request management for clinical radiology: Analyzing the Radiological Order Workflow through Contextual Interviews}, year = 2021 }

Hubland Nord, Gebäude 50

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter/PhD Student

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