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Anna Felnhofer
Mag. Dr. Anna FelnhoferHead of Pediatric Virtual Reality Laboratory (PedVR-Lab)

Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergology and Endocrinology)
Position: Research Associate (Postdoc)

ORCID: 0000-0002-0081-7489
T +43 1 40400 32720
anna.felnhofer@meduniwien.ac.at

Further Information

Keywords

Adolescent Psychology; Child Psychology; Ethics; Psychophysiology; Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Research group(s)

Research interests

My research focus is on Virtual Reality (VR) based research and applications. I conduct multimethod experimental research that seeks to unravel fundamental human experiences and behaviors within virtual environments, while also examining the dynamics of social interaction with virtual entities. Leveraging these insights, I employ virtual paradigms to study critical areas, such as social stress in children and adolescents, as well as pain perception and coping mechanisms.

In addition, my work focuses on translating findings into impactful solutions. This includes the development of innovative, VR-based interventions designed to manage pain and stress in pediatric contexts (e.g., during blood draws) and their application in therapeutic settings. Examples include virtual exposure therapy and virtual biofeedback for children and adolescents with stress-related disorders. By bridging basic research with practical applications, my work contributes to advancing both scientific understanding and therapeutic tools in healthcare and psychology.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

(1) Virtual reality: Sophisticated virtual reality applications and technologies (HMD, motion tracking devices, custom made fully interactive virtual simulations) are used to study human behavior and experiences in virtual environments. Additonally, the simulations may be used for exposure therapy purposes.

(2) Eye tracking: integrated eye tracking devices are used to study eye movements and gaze behaviors in virtual environments.

(3) Psychophysiology: Psychophysiological parameters such as HR, HRV and SCL & SCR are assessed via BrainVision products and analyzed via KUBIOS.

Grants

Selected publications

  1. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2024) ‘A Virtual Character’s Agency Affects Social Responses in Immersive Virtual Reality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis’, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 40(16), pp. 4167–4182. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2209979.
  2. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2023) ‘PAIN-EX: Probing Alternative Interventions for Neutralizing pain EXperiences via Embodiment in Virtual Reality’, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 26(8), pp. 662–664. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2023.29286.ceu.
  3. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2022) ‘Character identification is predicted by narrative transportation, immersive tendencies, and interactivity’, Current Psychology, 42(22), pp. 18567–18577. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03048-4.
  4. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2019) ‘Physical Presence, Social Presence, and Anxiety in Participants with Social Anxiety Disorder During Virtual Cue Exposure’, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22(1), pp. 46–50. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2018.0221.
  5. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2019) ‘The mere presence of an attentive and emotionally responsive virtual character influences focus of attention and perceived stress’, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 132, pp. 45–51. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2019.07.010.