Curriculum Vitae
| Since 2024 | Senior Research Scientist at RPTU in Kaiserslautern (formerly TU Kaiserslautern) in collaboration with Fraunhofer ITWM |
| 2018-2024 | Research scientist at RPTU in Kaiserslautern (formerly TU Kaiserslautern), Developmental Psychology & Cognitive Science (PhD, Magna Cum Laude) |
| 2016-2017 | Research project support officer at the Social Brain in Action lab, Bangor University, UK |
| 2013-2016 | Study of Social & Industrial Psychology at University of Salzburg, Austria (Master of Science, with distinction) |
| 2010-2013 | Study of Psychology at University of Salzburg, Austria (Bachelor of Science) |
Areas of Interest
- Perception of Virtual Reality
- Behavioral correlates of Human-Computer Interaction
- Cognitive and emotional response to technology
- Simulation of Pedestrian and Driver Behaviour in Multi-User XR
- Collaborative Behaviour of Human Users in VR and XR
- Eye-Tracking in Real World and Virtual Applications
Conference presentations
POSTERS
Hekele, F., Hsieh, T-Y, & Cross, E. (2017) Do we emphasize with robots? Insights from a first-person interaction study. The emerging social neuroscience of human-robot interaction. Social Robots workshop. Bangor, UK.
Hekele, F., & Cross, E. (2017) Do we emphasize with robots? Exploring perception of and interaction with artificial social agents. Aegina Summer School 2017. Aegina, Greece.
Publications
Eymann, V., Lachmann, T., Hekele, F., Ashok, A., Berns, K., & Czernochowski, D. (2025, October). Does ChatGPT know what robots are thinking? - Evaluation of human-created vs. AI-generated scientific ideas. Proceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics (ECCE 2025) (pp. 1-5). https://doi.org/10.1145/3746175.3746208
Spilski, J., Satchuk-Patricio, N., Zylowski, T., Hekele, F., Hettmann, W., Wölfel, M., Lachmann, T., & Henning, P. (2025, April). Evaluating the general technology acceptance model (GTAM) in the education context: An analysis of AI-based chatbot acceptance among schoolchildren. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Information and Education Technology (ICIET 2025) (pp. 31-38). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIET66371.2025.11046271
Hekele, F. (2024). Virtual Possibilities: Exploring the Role of Emerging Technologies in Work and Learning Environments [Doctoral dissertation, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau]. KLUEDO Online Repository. https://kluedo.ub.rptu.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/7973
Hekele, F., Spilski, J., Bender, S., & Lachmann, T. (2022). Remote vocational learning opportunities - A comparative eye‐tracking investigation of educational 2D videos versus 360° videos for car mechanics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(2), 248-268. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13162
Meghanathan, R. N., Ruediger-Flore, P., Hekele, F., Spilski, J., Ebert, A., & Lachmann, T. (2021). Spatial Sound in a 3D Virtual Environment: All Bark and No Bite?. Big Data and Cognitive Computing, 5(4), 79-84. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc5040079
Rodriguez, F. S., Spilski, J., Hekele, F., Beese, N. O., & Lachmann, T. (2020). Physical and cognitive demands of work in building construction. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 27(3), 745-764. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-04-2019-0211
Rodriguez, F. S., Spilski, J., Schneider, A., Hekele, F., Lachmann, T., Ebert, A., & Rupprecht, F. A. (2019). Relevance of the assessment mode in the digital assessment of processing speed. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 41(7), 730-739. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2019.1616079
Hortensius, R., Hekele, F., & Cross, E. S. (2018). The perception of emotion in artificial agents. IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, 10(4), 852-864. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCDS.2018.2826921
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