I am a media psychology/communication studies researcher at Chemnitz University of Technology, Germany.

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Intelligent media, smart cities, virtual and augmented reality – I am fascinated by new technologies and media phenomena, and I love to study them.

  • How are they changing our society, the way we think and interact with each other?

  • How can they be used to improve our everyday lives? 

  • What are positive and negative effects, and how can we improve these technologies?

As a communication scholar and media psychologist, I am interested in the experiences of users in the digitized landscape and how to shape them. As a co-founder of a startup company, I am interested in how companies can use methods of User Experience Engineering and Visualization Studies to fully use the potential of their data sources and provide a higher efficiency and better user experience for their users.

Research and Project Interests

  • User Experience of Interactive Media
  • Media Psychology and Media Effect Studies
  • Augmented and Virtual Reality
  • Data Visualization and Usability
  • Agile Project Management
  • User-Centered Design and Designsprint Prototyping
  • Experimental Psychology and Communication Research
More on my research

Professional Background

PhD in Media Psychology & Communication Studies

Chemnitz University of Technology (2014, summa cum laude)

Co-Founder and CEO of Vireso GmbH

StartUp company focused on software-based data visualization

PMP Project Management Certification

Certification as Project Management Professional from PMI
More in my full CV

Academic teaching and supervision

  • 40+ courses in Bachelor and Master study programs taught
  • 50+ bachelor’s/master’s theses supervised
More on my teaching

Research funding

  • Successfully applied for research funding by DFG, BMBF, BMWi, SAB/ESF, and Industry partners
More on my research funding

find me on social media

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Google Scholar

ORCid

Researchgate

Recent publications

See full list of publications

Recent talks

Pietschmann, D., & Lorenz, A. (2023, September 7). Podcasts and Parasocial Interaction: Analyzing the Impact of Reception Modality and Listening Styles [Paper Presentation]. 13th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, Luxembourg, LU. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2023, May 8). KI-Technologie in der Lehre - ein Einblick in die Lehrpraxis [Invited Talk]. TUC.teach May 2023, Chemnitz, GE. Cite
Kullmann, M., Pietschmann, D., Liebold, B., Eibl, M., & Chuang, L. L. (2023, April 23). Developing a Multiple-EDT-Supervision Interface [Paper Presentation]. AutomationXP@CHI 2023, Hamburg, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2022, May 13). Embodiment und echte Präsenz in virtuellen Welten [Invited Talk]. FSM medien impuls Fachtagung: Von Science-Fiction zur Realität - Immersive Technologien und veränderte (Medien)Realitäten, Berlin, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2022, Mai). Best Practices: Lernförderlicher Einsatz digitaler Technologien für wissenschaftliche Praxis [Invited Talk]. Tage der digitalen Hochschulbildung 2022, Chemnitz, GE. Cite
Gerigk, Y., Freudenberger, F., Hunze, M. S., Möckel, T., Pietschmann, D., Nieding, G., & Ohler, P. (2021, September 8). Can young Children's Media Sign Literacy predict Academic Skills in Primary School? [Paper Presentation]. 12th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, Aachen, GE. Cite
Lui, T., & Pietschmann, D. (2019, May 24). The effects of operating avatars on user’s body image in virtual reality: The role of sense of embodiment [Paper Presentation]. 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Washington, DC, USA. Cite
Koban, K., Schultz, J., & Pietschmann, D. (2019, May 24). All aboard the hype train – but for how long? An exploratory study on how individuals’ personality characteristics and game motivations determine their playing behavior throughout the Pokémon GO hype cycle [Paper Presentation]. 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Washington, DC, USA. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Schmidt, A. (2019, May 24). Always hardcore? Personality characteristics and play motives predicting preference for high difficulty video games [Paper Presentation]. 69th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Washington, DC, USA. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2019, January 31). Evolutionary Psychology Perspectives on Digital Game Studies [Invited Plenary]. Institut Mensch-Computer-Medien, Würzburg, GE. Cite
Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Tauchmann, N., Ohler, P., Reer, F., Kieslich, K., Tang, W. Y., & Quandt, T. (2018, November 31). Gewalt in Virtual Reality: Der Einfluss verkörperter virtueller Gewaltakte auf Aggression [Paper Presentation]. 51. Congress of the German Psychological Society (DGPs), Frankfurt, GE. Cite
Tang, W. Y., Reer, F., Kieslich, K., Quandt, T., Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Tauchmann, N., & Ohler, P. (2018, November 31). Trigger-happy on the holodeck: Do embodied acts of violence increase aggression? [Paper Presentation]. 7th European Communication Confernce (ECC2018), Lugano, SZ. Cite
Koban, K., Kapp, S., Krieger, S., Druzhkov, M., & Pietschmann, D. (2018, May 24). As time goes by. Exploring the dynamic nature of avatar characterization and player-avatar relationships in traditional role-playing games [Paper Presentation]. 68th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Prague, CZ. Cite
Holl, E., Huber, K., Liebold, B., & Pietschmann, D. (2018, May 24). Identifying the Cognitive Mechanism Behind Breaks in Presence using Measures of Attention [Paper Presentation]. 68th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Prague, CZ. Cite
Franzkowiak, L., Pietschmann, D., & Liebold, B. (2018, May 24). Investigating the Potentials of Natural Walking and Virtual Environment Design to Reduce Simulator Sickness in Virtual Reality [Paper Presentation]. 68th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Prague, CZ. Cite
Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Huber, K., Holl, E., & Brill, M. (2017, September 6). We are slowly getting there: Towards Continous Assessment of Presence in Virtual Environments [Paper Presentation]. 10th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, Landau, GE. Cite
Rohde, S., Liebold, B., & Pietschmann, D. (2017, September 6). Not so natural after all? A Longitudinal Study on Effects of Natural User Interfaces in Video Games [Paper Presentation]. 10th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, Landau, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Völkel, S. (2017, September 6). The Story never bothered me anyway. A mixed-method Study of narrative Understanding of Disney’s Frozen fro 4-12 year old children [Paper Presentation]. 10th Conference of the Media Psychology Division, Landau, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2017, June 8). Reduzieren von Nebenwirkungen virtueller Umgebungen [Invited Plenary]. Virtual Reality und Augmented Reality für Unternehmen. Veranstaltungsreihe des Diplomatic Council und Microsoft, Cologne, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Hemeli, D. (2017, May 25). This is for the Players? Predictors for Innovation Adoption of Consumer VR [Paper Presentation]. 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Diego, USA. Cite
Banks, J., Lin, J.-H. T., Pietschmann, D., & Bowman, N. D. (2017, May 25). Expansion and cross-cultural validation of the Common Player-Avatar Interaction Scale (cPAX) [Paper Presentation]. 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Diego, USA. Cite
Huber, K., Holl, E., Liebold, B., & Pietschmann, D. (2017, May 25). A modified secondary task reaction time paradigm for research on breaks in presence [Paper Presentation]. 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Diego, USA. Cite
Liebold, B., & Pietschmann, D. (2017, May 25). The aggression lottery? Psychometric properties of common aggression measures from four studies [Paper Presentation]. 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Diego, USA. Cite
Esmaeili-Bijarsari, S., Kuszter, V., Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Stahr, C., Linke, A.-S., & Brunnett, G. (2017, May 25). Through the eye of the beholder: Effects of perspective switches in VR on cybersickness and performance [Paper Presentation]. 67th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Diego, USA. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2016, June 15). Virtual Environments and User Experience [Invited Plenary]. International Summer School Living with Media 2016, Singapore, SN. Cite
Liebold, B., Brill, M., Pietschmann, D., Schwab, F., & Ohler, P. (2016, June 9). Breaks in Presence and Psychophysiology: Assessing a Broad Range of Measures in an Ecologically Valid Setting [Paper Presentation]. 66th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, JA. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Liebold, B. (2016, June 9). Is this the Killer App? VR Headsets, NUIs, and violent Video Games [Paper Presentation]. 66th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, JA. Cite
Liebold, B., Bowman, N. D., & Pietschmann, D. (2016, June 9). It’s New, but is it Improved? Novelty and Learning Effects in the Use and Enjoyment of Naturally Mapped Video Game Controllers [Paper Presentation]. 66th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, JA. Cite
Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Zurbruegg, E., Schueppel, V., & Koban, K. (2016, June 9). Did the Joker play aggressive video games? A two-wave cross-lagged panel analysis of the relation between aggressive video game play, trait aggressiveness, and psychopathy [Paper Presentation]. 66th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, JA. Cite
Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Brill, M., & Mohseni, R. (2015, December 11). Modding Games for Experimental Research: Automated Data Acquisition [Paper Presentation]. ECEA Digital Games Research Winter Workshop, Ghent, BE. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2015, December 11). Quantifying the subjective? Assessing User Experience in Digital Games [Invited Plenary]. ECEA Digital Games Research Winter Workshop, Ghent, BE. Cite
Ohler, P., & Pietschmann, D. (2015, November 26). The staging of war in video games. [Kriegssinzenierungen im Computerspiel] [Paper Presentation]. Militärhistorische Narrative, Räume und Geschichtsbilder. Wissenschaftliche Jahrestagung des Arbeitskreises Militärgeschichte e.V., Chemnitz, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Ohler, P. (2015, August 2). Spatial Mapping of physical and virtual spaces as an extension of Natural Mapping: Relevance for interaction design and User Experience [Paper Presentation]. HCI International 2015, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Liebold, B. (2015, August 2). Development of a media-independent Stereoscopic Ability Test to assess individual ability to process stereoscopic media [Paper Presentation]. HCI International 2015, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Cite
Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., & Ohler, P. (2015, August 2). Do We Differ in Our Dispositional Tendency to Perceive Virtual Agents as Animate Beings? An Investigation of User Factors in the Evaluation of Virtual Agents [Paper Presentation]. HCI International 2015, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Cite
Pietschmann, D., Brill, M., & Liebold, B. (2015, May 21). One theory fits all media? Re-examining the factor structure of the two-step spatial presence model using CFA and SEM [Paper Presentation]. 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Juan, RQ. Cite
Liebold, B., Brill, M., Pietschmann, D., Schwab, F., & Ohler, P. (2015, May 21). Towards a new research paradigm for presence: A pilot study of deriving the state of presence from a wide range of continuous data [Paper Presentation]. 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Juan, RQ. Cite
Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., & Ohler, P. (2015, May 21). Another note on presence terminology: A general model of experiencing virtual environments [Paper Presentation]. 65th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, San Juan, RQ. Cite
Kuszter, V., Brunnett, G., & Pietschmann, D. (2015, March 23). Cooperation in Virtual Environments with Individual Views [Poster Presentation]. IEEE VR 2015, Arles, FR. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2014, November 12). The Ups and Downs of Transmedia Enjoyment: Results of a two-month case study of “Defiance” [Paper Presentation]. ECREA ECC 2014, Lisbon, PO. Cite
Liebold, B., Koban, K., & Pietschmann, D. (2014, November 11). Are gamers good race car drivers? Transfer of prior experience to game-based learning scenarios [Paper Presentation]. ECREA Preconference Games and Society, Lisbon, PO. Cite
Kuszter, V., Brunnett, G., & Pietschmann, D. (2014, October 6). Exploring Stereoscopic Multi-User Interaction with Invidiual Views [Paper Presentation]. Cyberworlds 2014 International Conference, Santander, SP. Cite
Müller, N. H., & Pietschmann, D. (2014, September 5). Who is the Foe: Doctor Who and the NSA-GCHQ Parallels [Paper Presentation]. The politics and law of Doctor Who, London, UK. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2014, June 22). Matching Levels of Task Difficulty for Different Modes of Presentation in a VR Table Tennis Simulation by Using Assistance Functions and Regression Analysis [Paper Presentation]. HCI International 2014, Heraklion, GR. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2014, June 3). Das Holodeck: Wie weit sind wir? [Invited Plenary]. SciFi meets Science Conference, Chemnitz, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D., & Liebold, B. (2014, May 22). Effects of stereoscopic presentation and natural user interfaces on game performance and user experience [Paper Presentation]. ICA pre-conference Beyond the Pixels: A Look at Digital Games, Seattle, WA, USA. Cite
Pietschmann, D., Valtin, G., Liebold, B., & Ohler, P. (2013, September 4). Social Interaction in Massively Multiplayer Online Games: An Evolutionary Perspective [Paper Presentation]. 8th Conference of the Media Psychology Division of the German Psychological Society, Würzburg, GE. Cite
Nebel, S., Pietschmann, D., Liebold, B., Valtin, G., & Ohler, P. (2013, September 4). Effects of Video Game GUIs on the Construction of Rich Spatial Situation Models and Spatial Presence [Paper Presentation]. 8th Conference of the Media Psychology Division of the German Psychological Society, Würzburg, GE. Cite
Müller, N. H., Liebold, B., Pietschmann, D., Rosenthal, P., & Ohler, P. (2013, September 4). Gaze Path Analysis of Differences in Task Related Perception of Data Visualization [Paper Presentation]. 8th Conference of the Media Psychology Division of the German Psychological Society, Würzburg, GE. Cite
Pietschmann, D. (2013, July 5). Spatial Mapping of Input and Output Spaces in Video Games [Invited Plenary]. Games, Cognition, and Emotion, Hamburg, GE. Cite
See full list of talks

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