Selected Research Activities
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Humanoid Robot InterpretersLanguage barriers still limit access to public services for non-native speakers. While mobile translation apps are widespread, they often lack non-verbal cues needed in socially complex interactions. We present Worldhat, a humanoid robot interpreter that enables real-time multilingual communication through speech translation and embodied interaction. Built with the Furhat SDK, it mimics human interpreter behavior using speech recognition, machine translation, and speech output. The system shows how embodiment can improve translation experiences. Future work includes automatic language detection and deeper exploration of robot embodiment. |
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Context-Aware Climate CompanionsRising heat, wildfires, floods, air pollution and other climate hazards expose people in very different ways depending on their location, daily activities, and personal characteristics. How can context-aware technology can both provide timely, relevant guidance to individuals and engage citizens to supply local knowledge and observations that strengthens climate adaptation planning and disaster response. |
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"Humanized" ChatbotsMany chatbots are designed to look and act like humans (e.g., by giving them names and avatars). Likewise, Alexa and Siri have human-like characteristics (e.g., a female voice). Why is that? Does it influence how we interact with them? |
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Hybrid Customer ServiceChatbots are omnipresent in customer service, but too often struggle with non-routine questions and can't solve difficult problems. As a result, many companies use a hybrid approach where human employees can step in if the chatbot fails. This raises several questions that we explore together with our industry partners: When should a chatbot hand over to a human? Should customers know about behind-the-scenes human involvement?
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Chatbot Analytics SystemsReal-world chatbots in domains such as customer service are often far from perfect. One way for chatbot developers and chatbot managers to improve them is to analyze usage data for problems and potentials. However, large-scale data analysis is labor-intensive and requires a structured approach. Our research addresses this challenge by developing new chatbot analytics methods and systems. Based on knowledge from related disciplines such as process mining or linguistic analysis, these aim to provide valuable insights for developers and managers.
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Can Chatbots Be Therapists?There is an increasing demand for psychological support, but not everyone receives therapy or wants to talk to a human therapist. Together with our colleagues from the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Greifswald, we aim to answer the following questions: Can we use chatbots as virtual therapists? How do we need to design them to effectively provide psychological support?
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Software Robots in Team CollaborationPlatforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams are a central hub for virtual team collaboration in organizational and educational setting. As software robots (“bots”) have become an integral part of these platforms, we investigate how bots can support collaboration by providing team feedback and facilitating knowledge sharing activities.
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Replaced by a (Software) Robot?
Software robots, such as robotic process automation (RPA) bots, are increasingly used to automate repetitive tasks formerly performed by human employees (e.g., copy-pasting data). But how do employees respond when their new colleague is a robot? And how does it affect employees’ work practices?
Learn more about our research project MeKIDI
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Selected Publications
Kuhlmeier, F. O.; Bauch, L.; Gnewuch, U.; Lüttke, S.
2025. JMIR Human Factors, 12, e66632. doi:10.2196/66632
Hanschmann, L.; Gnewuch, U.; Kaiser, C.; Mädche, A.
2025. ECIS 2025, ECIS2025–1947, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Heyden, N.; Parsons, J.
2025. IS for Resilience and Sustainable Development Track at Association of Information System
Müller, S.; Feick, M.; Mädche, A.
2025. Mensch und Computer 2025 - Workshopband, Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI). doi:10.18420/muc2025-mci-demo-298
Liu, S.; Mädche, A.; Feick, M.
2025. CHI EA ’25: Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Ed.: N. Yamashita, Article No.: 299, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). doi:10.1145/3706599.3720232
Schloß, D.; Gnewuch, U.; Maedche, A.
2025. Transforming the Digitally Sustainable Enterprise – Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, Paderborn, Germany, 2023, Vol. 3. Ed.: D. Beverungen, 207–216, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80125-9_12
Rapp, S.; Maedche, A.; Jainta, M.
2025. Chatbots and Human-Centered AI : 8th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2024, Thessaloniki, Greece, December 4–5, 2024, Revised Selected Papers. Ed.: A. Følstad, 33–47, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-88045-2_3
Hanschmann, L.; Mokelke, M.; Maedche, A.
2025. Chatbots and Human-Centered AI – 8th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2024, Thessaloniki, Greece, December 4–5, 2024, Revised Selected Papers. Ed.: A. Følstad, 48–65, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-88045-2_4
Gnewuch, U.; Hanschmann, L.; Kaiser, C.; Schallner, R.; Maedche, A.
2024. Eduropean Conference on Information Systems 2024, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Sou, D.; Kuhlmeier, F. O.; Kowatsch, T.; Wangenheim, F. von; Nißen, M.
2024. 45th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2024), 1315, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Hanschmann, L.; Gnewuch, U.; Maedche, A.
2024. Chatbot Research and Design : 7th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2023, Oslo, Norway, November 22–23, 2023. Ed.: A. Følstad, 61–76, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-54975-5_4
Schloß, D.; Gnewuch, U.; Mädche, A.
2023. 18th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, September 2023, Paderborn, Germany, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Schloß, D.; Gnewuch, U.; Maedche, A.
2023. Robotik in der Wirtschaftsinformatik. Hrsg.: S. D’Onofrio, 167–192, Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-39621-3_9
Scheu, S.; Kuhlmeier, F. O.; Müller, L. N.; Benke, I.
2023. ECIS 2023 Proceedings, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Schloß, D.; Espitia, J. D. G.; Gnewuch, U.
2023. ECIS 2023 Proceedings, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Kuhlmeier, F. O.; Gnewuch, U.; Metelmann, L.; Bauch, L.; Lüttke, S.
2022. Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Pre-ICIS Workshop on HCI Research in MIS, Copenhagen, Denmark, 11th December 2022, 1–6
Schloß, D.; Gnewuch, U.; Mädche, A.
2022. ICIS 2022 Proceedings. Bd.: 1, AIS eLibrary (AISeL)
Schloß, D.; Gnewuch, U.
2022. 6th International Workshop, CONVERSATIONS 2022, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 22–23, 2022
Hanschmann, L.; Gnewuch, U.; Mädche, A.
2022. Mensch und Computer 2022 - Tagungsband. Ed.: B. Pfleging, 495–500, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). doi:10.1145/3543758.3547517
Kuhlmeier, F. O.; Gnewuch, U.; Lüttke, S.; Brakemeier, E.-L.; Mädche, A.
2022. The Transdisciplinary Reach of Design Science Research – 17th International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2022, St Petersburg, FL, USA, June 1–3, 2022, Proceedings. Ed.: A. Drechsler, 30–41, Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-06516-3_3