Detail

Keywords

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

Research group(s)

• Pediatric Virtual Reality Research (PedVR-Lab Unit)
  Head: Anna Felnhofer
  Research Area: Developing and evaluating novel technologies which are intended to enhance the treatment of chronic diseases as well as accompanying psychological issues in children and adolescents by using - amongst others - Virtual Reality (VR) technologies
  Members:
  Anna Felnhofer

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

• FFG Innovationsscheck (2023)
  Source of Funding: FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency), Innovationsscheck
  Principal Investigator
• Friend or toe? Evaluating the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality (VR) based stress reduction paradigm in children and adolescents undergoing ingrown toenail surgery (2019)
  Source of Funding: Medical University of Vienna, CCP starter Grant
  Principal Investigator

Selected publications

1. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2025) ‘Ostracism, cortisol reactivity, and motivation for high-calorie food in children and adolescents with obesity’, International Journal of Obesity [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-025-01824-3.
2. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2025) ‘Effects of Virtual Reality Distraction on Pain, Stress, and Heart Rate during Pediatric Ingrown Toenail Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial’, Journal of Pediatric Surgery, p. 162696. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2025.162696.
3. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2025) ‘Virtual reality versus 2D biofeedback for children and adolescents with stress related disorders: a randomized controlled trial’, Virtual Reality, 29(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-025-01123-2.
4. Felnhofer, A. et al. (2025) ‘Barriers to adopting therapeutic virtual reality: the perspective of clinical psychologists and psychotherapists’, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 16. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1549090.
5. 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.