Marie Fiedler, M.Sc.

Marie Fiedler M. Sc.

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiterin/PhD Studentin

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

About me

Marie completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Magdeburg, where she explored and compared different learning paradigms in a brain-computer interface for her bachelor's thesis.

After that, she finished her Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Würzburg. For her master's thesis, she further investigated the influence of the appearance and embodiment of a virtual human on body weight perception in virtual reality. During her time as a master's student, she worked as a student worker on various projects of the institute.

Since November 2022, she has been a research assistant and PhD student in the Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology Intelligent Interactive Systems groups at the University of Würzburg, Germany. She is conducting her PhD research on how Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality can be utilized to systematically manipulate avatar self-similarity, agency, embodiment strength, latency, and setting (augmented vs. fully virtual) to model and modify body weight perception, self-identification, and body ownership, thereby informing intervention design for anorexia nervosa therapy.

Publications

2025[ to top ]

Holderrieth, Lena, Erik Wolf, Marie Luisa Fiedler, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, and 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), 1404-5. IEEE Computer Science, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW66409.2025.00348.
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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.

@inproceedings{holderrieth2025better, 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.}, 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)}, keywords = {mfiedler}, month = {03}, note = {Best Poster 🏆}, pages = {1404-1405}, publisher = {IEEE Computer Science}, title = {Do You Feel Better? The Impact of Embodying Photorealistic Avatars with Ideal Body Weight on Attractiveness and Self-Esteem in Virtual Reality}, year = 2025 }
Fiedler, Marie Luisa, Arne Bürger, Sabrina Mittermeier, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, and 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), 965-70. IEEE Computer Science, 2025. https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2025-ieeevr-fiedler-stakeholder-focus-group-proposal.pdf.
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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.

@inproceedings{fiedler2025evaluating, 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.}, 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)}, keywords = {mfiedler}, month = {03}, pages = {965-970}, publisher = {IEEE Computer Science}, title = {Evaluating VR and AR Mirror Exposure for Anorexia Nervosa Therapy in Adolescents: A Method Proposal for Understanding Stakeholder Perspectives}, year = 2025 }
Fiedler, Marie Luisa, Mario Botsch, Carolin Wienrich, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “Self-Similarity Beats Motor Control in Augmented Reality Body Weight Perception”. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 31, no. 5 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549851.
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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.

@article{fiedler2025selfsimilarity, 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.}, author = {Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Botsch, Mario and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics}, keywords = {mfiedler}, note = {Honorable Mention 🏆}, number = 5, title = {Self-Similarity Beats Motor Control in Augmented Reality Body Weight Perception}, volume = 31, year = 2025 }
Merz, Christian, Lukas Schach, Marie Luisa Fiedler, Jean-Luc Lugrin, Carolin Wienrich, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “Unobtrusive In-Situ Measurement of Behavior Change by Deep Metric Similarity Learning of Motion Patterns”. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04174.
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@misc{merz2025unobtrusiveinsitumeasurementbehavior, author = {Merz, Christian and Schach, Lukas and Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Lugrin, Jean-Luc and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, keywords = {mfiedler}, title = {Unobtrusive In-Situ Measurement of Behavior Change by Deep Metric Similarity Learning of Motion Patterns}, year = 2025 }

2024[ to top ]

Fiedler, Marie Luisa, Erik Wolf, Nina Döllinger, David Mal, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, and Carolin Wienrich. “From Avatars to Agents: Self-Related Cues through Embodiment and Personalization Affect Body Perception in Virtual Reality”. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2024, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1109/TVCG.2024.3456211.
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Our work investigates the influence of self-related cues in the design of virtual humans on body perception in virtual reality. In a 2x2 mixed design, 64 participants faced photorealistic virtual humans either as a motion-synchronized embodied avatar or as an autonomous moving agent, appearing subsequently with a personalized and generic texture. Our results unveil that self-related cues through embodiment and personalization yield an individual and complemented increase in participants' sense of embodiment and self-identification towards the virtual human. Different body weight modification and estimation tasks further showed an impact of both factors on participants' body weight perception. Additional analyses revealed that the participant's body mass index predicted body weight estimations in all conditions and that participants' self-esteem and body shape concerns correlated with different body weight perception results. Hence, we have demonstrated the occurrence of double standards through induced self-related cues in virtual human perception, especially through embodiment.

@article{fiedler2024selfcues, abstract = {Our work investigates the influence of self-related cues in the design of virtual humans on body perception in virtual reality. In a 2x2 mixed design, 64 participants faced photorealistic virtual humans either as a motion-synchronized embodied avatar or as an autonomous moving agent, appearing subsequently with a personalized and generic texture. Our results unveil that self-related cues through embodiment and personalization yield an individual and complemented increase in participants' sense of embodiment and self-identification towards the virtual human. Different body weight modification and estimation tasks further showed an impact of both factors on participants' body weight perception. Additional analyses revealed that the participant's body mass index predicted body weight estimations in all conditions and that participants' self-esteem and body shape concerns correlated with different body weight perception results. Hence, we have demonstrated the occurrence of double standards through induced self-related cues in virtual human perception, especially through embodiment.}, author = {Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Wolf, Erik and Döllinger, Nina and Mal, David and Botsch, Mario and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics}, keywords = {mfiedler}, pages = {1-11}, title = {From Avatars to Agents: Self-Related Cues through Embodiment and Personalization Affect Body Perception in Virtual Reality}, year = 2024 }

2023[ to top ]

Maas, Franzisca, Sara Wolf, Michael Weber, Marie Luisa Fiedler, Nils Zottmann, Marlene Lester, Jonathan Hohm, et al. “‘hubbel’: A Hybrid Letterbox That Stimulates Civic Participation Through Local Information Sharing in Neighbourhoods”. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 1826–1841. DIS ’23. ACM, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1145/3563657.3596116.
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@inproceedings{Maas2023, author = {Maas, Franzisca and Wolf, Sara and Weber, Michael and Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Zottmann, Nils and Lester, Marlene and Hohm, Jonathan and Sessler, Luise and Schmitt, Katja Patricia and Balser, Andreas and Heinisch, Melina Joline and Hofmann, Tabea Carolina and Maier, Simon and Ölschläger, Amanda and Popp, Alisa and Hurtienne, Jörn}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference}, keywords = {mfiedler}, pages = {1826–1841}, publisher = {ACM}, series = {DIS ’23}, title = {“hubbel”: A Hybrid Letterbox That Stimulates Civic Participation Through Local Information Sharing in Neighbourhoods}, year = 2023 }
Fiedler, Marie Luisa, Erik Wolf, Nina Döllinger, Mario Botsch, Marc Erich Latoschik, and Carolin Wienrich. “Embodiment and Personalization for Self-Identification With Virtual Humans”. In 2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), 799-800. https://doi.org/10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00242.
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Our work investigates the impact of virtual human embodiment and personalization on the sense of embodiment (SoE) and self-identification (SI). We introduce preliminary items to query self-similarity (SS) and self-attribution (SA) with virtual humans as dimensions of SI. In our study, 64 participants successively observed personalized and generic-looking virtual humans, either as embodied avatars in a virtual mirror or as agents while performing tasks. They reported significantly higher SoE and SI when facing personalized virtual humans and significantly higher SoE and SA when facing embodied avatars, indicating that both factors have strong separate and complimentary influence on SoE and SI.

@inproceedings{fiedler2023selfidentification, abstract = {Our work investigates the impact of virtual human embodiment and personalization on the sense of embodiment (SoE) and self-identification (SI). We introduce preliminary items to query self-similarity (SS) and self-attribution (SA) with virtual humans as dimensions of SI. In our study, 64 participants successively observed personalized and generic-looking virtual humans, either as embodied avatars in a virtual mirror or as agents while performing tasks. They reported significantly higher SoE and SI when facing personalized virtual humans and significantly higher SoE and SA when facing embodied avatars, indicating that both factors have strong separate and complimentary influence on SoE and SI.}, author = {Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Wolf, Erik and Döllinger, Nina and Botsch, Mario and Latoschik, Marc Erich and Wienrich, Carolin}, booktitle = {2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)}, keywords = {mfiedler}, pages = {799-800}, title = {Embodiment and Personalization for Self-Identification with Virtual Humans}, year = 2023 }
Fiedler, Marie Luisa, Erik Wolf, Carolin Wienrich, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “Holographic Augmented Reality Mirrors for Daily Self-Reflection on the Own Body Image”. In CHI 2023 WS28 Integrating Individual and Social Contexts into Self-Reflection Technologies Workshop, 1-4. https://downloads.hci.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/2023-chi-reflection-workshop.pdf.
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Mirror self-reflection can help us to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of our body. Due to technological advancements, holographic augmented reality (AR) mirrors can create realistic visualizations of virtual humans that can represent one's appearance in an altered way while remaining in a familiar environment. Further developing those mirrors opens a new field for use in everyday life. In this work, we outline possible future scenarios where AR mirrors can empower individuals to visualize their emotions, thought patterns, and discrepancies related to their physical body and mental body image. Thus, AR mirrors can encourage their self-reflection, promote a positive and healthy relationship with their bodies, or motivate them to take action to improve their well-being.

@inproceedings{fiedler2023holographic, abstract = {Mirror self-reflection can help us to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of our body. Due to technological advancements, holographic augmented reality (AR) mirrors can create realistic visualizations of virtual humans that can represent one's appearance in an altered way while remaining in a familiar environment. Further developing those mirrors opens a new field for use in everyday life. In this work, we outline possible future scenarios where AR mirrors can empower individuals to visualize their emotions, thought patterns, and discrepancies related to their physical body and mental body image. Thus, AR mirrors can encourage their self-reflection, promote a positive and healthy relationship with their bodies, or motivate them to take action to improve their well-being.}, author = {Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Wolf, Erik and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, booktitle = {CHI 2023 WS28 Integrating Individual and Social Contexts into Self-Reflection Technologies Workshop}, keywords = {mfiedler}, pages = {1-4}, title = {Holographic Augmented Reality Mirrors for Daily Self-Reflection on the Own Body Image}, year = 2023 }

2022[ to top ]

Wolf, Erik, Marie Luisa Fiedler, Nina Döllinger, Carolin Wienrich, and Marc Erich Latoschik. “Exploring Presence, Avatar Embodiment, and Body Perception With a Holographic Augmented Reality Mirror”. In 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 350-59. https://doi.org/10.1109/VR51125.2022.00054.
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The embodiment of avatars in virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool for enhancing the user's mental health. A great example is the treatment of body image disturbances, where eliciting a full-body illusion can help identify, visualize, and modulate persisting misperceptions. Augmented reality (AR) could complement recent advances in the field by incorporating real elements, such as the therapist or the user's real body, into therapeutic scenarios. However, research on the use of AR in this context is very sparse. Therefore, we present a holographic AR mirror system based on an optical see-through (OST) device and markerless body tracking, collect valuable qualitative feedback regarding its user experience, and compare quantitative results regarding presence, embodiment, and body weight perception to similar systems using video see-through (VST) AR and VR. For our OST AR system, a total of 27 normal-weight female participants provided predominantly positive feedback on display properties (field of view, luminosity, and transparency of virtual objects), body tracking, and the perception of the avatar’s appearance and movements. In the quantitative comparison to the VST AR and VR systems, participants reported significantly lower feelings of presence, while they estimated the body weight of the generic avatar significantly higher when using our OST AR system. For virtual body ownership and agency, we found only partially significant differences. In summary, our study shows the general applicability of OST AR in the given context offering huge potential in future therapeutic scenarios. However, the comparative evaluation between OST AR, VST AR, and VR also revealed significant differences in relevant measures. Future work is mandatory to corroborate our findings and to classify the significance in a therapeutic context.

@inproceedings{wolf2022holographic, abstract = {The embodiment of avatars in virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool for enhancing the user's mental health. A great example is the treatment of body image disturbances, where eliciting a full-body illusion can help identify, visualize, and modulate persisting misperceptions. Augmented reality (AR) could complement recent advances in the field by incorporating real elements, such as the therapist or the user's real body, into therapeutic scenarios. However, research on the use of AR in this context is very sparse. Therefore, we present a holographic AR mirror system based on an optical see-through (OST) device and markerless body tracking, collect valuable qualitative feedback regarding its user experience, and compare quantitative results regarding presence, embodiment, and body weight perception to similar systems using video see-through (VST) AR and VR. For our OST AR system, a total of 27 normal-weight female participants provided predominantly positive feedback on display properties (field of view, luminosity, and transparency of virtual objects), body tracking, and the perception of the avatar’s appearance and movements. In the quantitative comparison to the VST AR and VR systems, participants reported significantly lower feelings of presence, while they estimated the body weight of the generic avatar significantly higher when using our OST AR system. For virtual body ownership and agency, we found only partially significant differences. In summary, our study shows the general applicability of OST AR in the given context offering huge potential in future therapeutic scenarios. However, the comparative evaluation between OST AR, VST AR, and VR also revealed significant differences in relevant measures. Future work is mandatory to corroborate our findings and to classify the significance in a therapeutic context.}, author = {Wolf, Erik and Fiedler, Marie Luisa and Döllinger, Nina and Wienrich, Carolin and Latoschik, Marc Erich}, booktitle = {2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR)}, keywords = {mfiedler}, pages = {350-359}, title = {Exploring Presence, Avatar Embodiment, and Body Perception with a Holographic Augmented Reality Mirror}, year = 2022 }

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiterin/PhD Studentin

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