Hochschule RheinMain
Your University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Still exploring your study options? Find your perfect fit:
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Spierling
Vita
Employment History
- March 2010 – Present
Professor for Rich Media Design; Hochschule RheinMain, University of Applied Sciences. - September 2002 – February 2010
Professor for Media Design; Fachhochschule Erfurt, University of Applied Sciences. - July 1998 – August 2002
Research Department Head "Digital Storytelling"; ZGDV Computer Graphics Center,
Darmstadt, Germany - September 1993 – June 1998
Team Leader, Demonstration Center for Computer Animation and Design, ZGDV.
Darmstadt, Germany
Education
- 2012
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK - 1993
Diploma in Visual Communication Design. Fachhochschule Darmstadt, Germany
Teaching
I offer courses in the degree programs Media Management (B.Sc.) and Media & Design Management (M.Sc.). All information for course participants can be found in Stud.IP.
Research and projects
Kräuter, N., Spierling, U. (2025). Drawing Together with Sibylla Merian. Exploring Volumetric Video’s Impact in Augmented Reality Storytelling to Bring Historical Figures to Life. TBP in Proceedings of Culture and Computer Science (KUI 2025), 9/2025, Berlin.
Liu, Y., Feller, M., Spierling, U. (2025). Design Patterns for Playful Augmented Reality: Enhancing Cultural Heritage Engagement with Game Mechanics. In Proceedings of ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS), 05.-09. July 2025, Funchal, PT. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 14 pages. doi.org/10.1145/3715336.3735842
Bitter, J.L., Koßmann, R. D., Lurz, M., Müller, L., Spierling, U. (2025). Adding Chance to a Serious Game’s Mechanics to Encourage Action in Uncertain Situations. In: Schönbohm, A., et al. Games and Learning Alliance. GALA 2024. LNCS vol. 15348, pp. 123-132. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-78269-5_12
Millard, D. E., Da Milano, C., Haahr, M., Hargood, C., Nisi, V. and Spierling, U. (2024). An Ethical Commitment for Mixed Reality Games. Proceedings of the Narrative and Hypertext Workshop (NHT) Sept. 2024. nht.ecs.soton.ac.uk/2024/papers/1-Millard.pdf
Bitter, J.L., Spierling, U. (2024). Against Isolation in the Museum: Playful Co-Presence with Immersive Augmented Reality. In: Plass, J.L., Ochoa, X. (eds) Serious Games. JCSG 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15259, pp 281–297. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74138-8_20
Liu, Y., Feller, M., Spierling, U. (2024). Playful Locative Interaction in Museums and Exhibitions with Immersive Augmented Reality. In: Plass, J.L., Ochoa, X. (eds) Serious Games. JCSG 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15259. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74138-8_18
Spierling, U., Bitter, J. L., Kräuter, N., Liu, Y. (2024). Creating Location-based Visual Presence Experiences for Museums with Immersive Technology. Poster in: Corsini et al. (eds) EUROGRAPHICS Workshops on Graphics and Cultural Heritage, GCH 2024, Darmstadt, Eurographics Digital Library. doi.org/10.2312/gch.20241271
Spierling, U., Zimmer, M., Müller, L., Bitter, J.L., Koßmann, R. D. (2024). Empathizing with failure: A prosocial serious game to experience the conditions for preventing intimate partner violence. In: Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good (GoodIT '24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 266–274. doi.org/10.1145/3677525.3678670
Bitter, J.L., Kräuter, N., Spierling, U. (2023). As If They Were Here: The Impact of Volumetric Video on Presence in Immersive Augmented Reality Storytelling. In: “Interactive Storytelling”, Proc. ICIDS 2023, LNCS vol. 14383, Springer, Cham, pp. 425–441. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47655-6_26
Müller, L., Spierling, U., Bitter, J. L., Schwarz, S. (2023). Challenges in designing a game for the prevention of intimate partner violence. In: Proc. 17th European Conference on Games Based Learning, Enschede, NL, Academic Conferences and Publishing International, pp. 852-855. doi.org/10.34190/ecgbl.17.1.1838
Spierling, U., Bitter, J. L., Liu, Y., Müller, T. (2023). Chances and Limitations of Immersive Augmented Reality for Game-based Learning in Museums. In: Proc. 17th European Conference on Games Based Learning, Enschede, NL, Academic Conferences and Publishing International, pp. 643-650. doi.org/10.34190/ecgbl.17.1.1851
Spierling, U. (2023). Design Research im Bereich interaktiver Medien. In: Kochhan, C., Moutchnik, A. (Hg.): Handlungsraum Media Management. Fallstudien und Analysen für Wirtschaft, Design und Technik; pp. 349–363. Springer Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-41520-4_17
Liu, Y., Bitter, J.L., Spierling, U. (2023). Evaluating Interaction Challenges of Head-Mounted Device-based Augmented Reality Applications for First-time Users at Museums and Exhibitions. In: Rauterberg, M. (eds) Culture and Computing. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14035, pp. 150–163. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34732-0_11
Bitter, J.L., Senk, G., Spierling, U. (2023). Effects of Volumetric Video Capture on Interactive Storytelling in Immersive Augmented Reality: A Short Film Experiment. In Proc. 7th Int. Conf. on Virtual and Augmented Reality Simulations (ICVARS) March 03–05, 2023, Sydney, Australia, pp. 45–51. ACM, New York, NY, USA, doi.org/10.1145/3603421.3603428
Spierling, U. (2022). Authoring Interactive Narrative Meets Narrative Interaction Design. In: Hargood, C., Millard, D.E., Mitchell, A., Spierling, U. (eds) The Authoring Problem. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05214-9_8
Hargood, C., Millard, D., Mitchell, A., Spierling, U. (eds) (2022). The Authoring Problem. Challenges in Supporting Authoring for Interactive Digital Narratives. Springer Human–Computer Interaction Series, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. ISBN: 978-3-031-05213-2
Rau, L., Bitter, J.L., Liu, Y., Spierling, U. and Dörner, R. (2022). Supporting the Creation of Non-linear Everyday AR Experiences in Exhibitions and Museums: An Authoring Process based on Self-Contained Building Blocks. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, Sec. Technologies for VR. doi: 10.3389/frvir.2022.955437
Müller, L., Spierling, U., Merkle, A., Dackweiler, R. (2022). Systems Mapping to Support Interdisciplinary Understanding in Serious Game Design. In: Proceedings of 2022 European Conference on Games Based Learning, Lisbon, PT, Academic Conferences and Publishing International, pp. 403-411. doi.org/10.34190/ecgbl.16.1.772
Bitter, J.L., Dörner, R., Liu, Y., Rau, L., Spierling, U. (2022). Follow the Blue Butterfly – An Immersive Augmented Reality Museum Guide. In: C. Stephanidis et al. (Eds.): HCII 2022, Proceedings, CCIS 1582, pp. 171-178. Springer Nature Switzerland. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06391-6_23
Bitter, J.L., Spierling, U. (2021). Towards Mobile Holographic Storytelling at Historic Sites. In: Proc. EAI DLI 2021 (6th EAI International Conference on Design, Learning & Innovation), December 2-3, 2021, Springer LNIST. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06675-7_9
Liu, Y., Spierling, U., Rau, L., Dörner, R. (2020). Handheld vs. Head-Mounted AR Interaction Patterns for Museums or Guided Tours. In: Proc. EAI Intetain 2020 (12th EAI International Conference on Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment), December 12-14, 2020. Springer LNICST vol. 377, pp. 229–242. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76426-5_15
Rau, L., Horst, R., Liu, Y., Dörner, R., Spierling, U. (2020). A Tangible Object for General Purposes in Mobile Augmented Reality Applications. In: R. Reussner, A. Koziolek, R. Heinrich (Hrsg.): INFORMATIK 2020, Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn, pp. 937-944.
Semm, A., Spierling, U. (2020). Ermittlung von Usability-Kriterien für Jugendliche mit kognitiven Beeinträchtigungen im Bereich E-Learning. In: Raphael Zender et. al. (Hrsg.): Die 18. Fachtagung Bildungstechnologien (DELFI), Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn, S. 181-186.
Spierling, U. (2018). Tools and Principles for Creation in Interactive Storytelling: The Issue of Evaluation. Position paper at Workshop "Authoring for Interactive Storytelling 2018", 2018-12-08 at ICIDS 2018, Dublin, IR. Online Proceedings www.narrativeandplay.org/ais/2018/proceedings.html
Gordon, A., Spierling, U. (2018). Playing Story Creation Games with Logical Abduction. In: R. Rouse et al. (Eds.): 11th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. ICIDS 2018, Dublin/IE, December 2018. LNCS, Springer International Publishing.
Dörner, R., Spierling, U. (2018). Hochschullehre der Programmierung außerhalb eines Informatikstudiengangs: Herausforderungen und Perspektiven. Workshop "Digitalisierung der Lehre: Neue Impulse für das Lernen und Lehren von Programmieren.", 16. E-Learning-Fachtagung Informatik (DeLFI 2018), Frankfurt.
Spierling, U., Luderschmidt, J. (2018). Chatbots und mediengestützte Konversation. In: Kochhan, C., Moutchnik, A.: Media Management. Ein interdisziplinäres Kompendium. Springer Gabler Research, Wiesbaden, pp. 387-408.
Groetenhardt, K., Spierling, U., Neurohr, K. (2018). A Formal Visual Model to Capture Stories Told from Multiple Perspectives. In: Busch/Kassung/Sieck (Eds.): Kultur und Informatik – Hybrid Systems, Proceedings of KUI 2018, VWH-Verlag, Glückstadt, pp. 201-212.
Spierling, U. (2018). Storytelling in Location-based Augmented Reality – "Spirit: Aurelia, Saalburg 233 n. Chr.". In: Transmedia Storytelling, Jahrbuch Immersiver Medien 2017, hg. vom Institut für Immersive Medien an der FH Kiel, Schüren, Marburg, pp. 95-107, ISBN 978-3-89472-943-1.
Winzer, P., Spierling, U., Massarczyk, E., Neurohr, K. (2017). Learning by Imagining History: Staged Representations in Location-based Augmented Reality. In: J. Dias et al. (Eds.): 6th International Conference, GALA 2017, Lisbon/Portugal, December 2017. LNCS, vol. 10653, Springer International Publishing, Heidelberg, pp. 173-183.
Spierling, U., Kampa, A. (2017). An Extensible System and Its Design Constraints for Location-Based Serious Games with Augmented Reality. In: Alcañiz M. et al. (Eds): Serious Games, Proceedings of JCSG 2017. LNCS, vol 10622. Springer, Cham, pp. 60-72.
Spierling, U., Winzer, P., Massarczyk, E. (2017). Experiencing the Presence of Historical Stories with Location-based Augmented Reality. In: N. Nunes et al. (Eds.): 10th International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling. ICIDS 2017, Funchal/Portugal, November 2017. LNCS, vol. 10690, Springer International Publishing, Cham, pp. 49-62. doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71027-3_5
Kampa, A., Spierling, U. (2017). Smart Authoring for Location-based Augmented Reality Storytelling Applications. In: M. Eibl, M. Gaedke (Eds.): INFORMATIK 2017, Lecture Notes in Informatics (LNI), Gesellschaft für Informatik, Bonn, pp. 915-922.
Spierling, U. (2017). Eingebunden in die Geschichte eines Ortes: Mobiles interaktives Erzählen mit Augmented Reality. In: Interaktive Medien: Interfaces – Netze – Virtuelle Welten, Jahrbuch Immersiver Medien 2016, hg. vom Institut für Immersive Medien an der FH Kiel, Schüren, Marburg, pp. 81-96.
Spierling, U., Kampa, A., Stöbener, K. (2016). Magic Equipment: Integrating Digital Narrative and Interaction Design in an Augmented Reality Quest. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Culture & Computer Science ICCCS’16, October 25–28, 2016, Windhoek, Namibia, pp. 56-61.
Kampa, A., Stöbener, K., Spierling, U. (2016). User Interface Prototyping for Handheld Mobile Augmented Reality Applications. In: G. Wallner et al. (Eds.): Entertainment Computing, Proceedings of ICEC 2016, LNCS 9926, Springer International Publishing, pp. 229-234.
Kampa, A., Spierling, U. (2016). Requirements and Solutions for Location-based Augmented Reality Storytelling in an Outdoor Museum. In: Busch/Sieck (Eds.): Culture and Computer Science – Augmented Reality, Proceedings of KUI 2016 (Kultur und Informatik, May 2016), VWH-Verlag, Glückstadt, pp. 105-117.
Spierling, U. (2015). Interaction Design Principles as Narrative Techniques for Interactive Digital Storytelling. In: Ferri/Koenitz/Haahr/Sezen/Sezen (Eds.): Interactive Digital Narrative - History, Theory, and Practice. ECREA, Routledge, pp. 159-173.
Spierling, U., Kampa, A. (2014). Structuring Location-Aware Interactive Narratives for Mobile Augmented Reality. In A. Mitchell et al. (Eds.): Interactive Storytelling, Proceedings of ICIDS 2014, Springer LNCS vol. 8832, pp. 196–203.
Spierling, U., Coors, V. (2014). SPIRIT - Entertaining Encounters with Ancient History. In R. Klein and P. Santos (Eds): Proceedings of 12th EUROGRAPHICS Workshops on Graphics and Cultural Heritage, Darmstadt, Eurographics Digital Library.
Dörner, R., Spierling, U. (2014). Serious Games Development as a Vehicle for Teaching Entertainment Technology and Interdisciplinary Teamwork: Perspectives and Pitfalls. In Proc. ACM International Workshop on Serious Games, Orlando, FL, ACM Digital Library.
Kampa, A., Dastageeri, H., Storz, M., Coors, V., Spierling, U. (2014). SPIRIT - Ereignisgesteuerte Informationsvermittlung, Inspiration und Unterhaltung im urbanen Umfeld auf Basis mobiler Augmented Reality Technologien. In Proc. 11. Workshop "Virtuelle Realität und Augmented Reality" der GI-Fachgruppe VR/AR, Bremen.
Rank, S., Hoffmann, S., Struck, H., Spierling, U., Mayr, S., Petta, P. (2014). Authoring vs. Configuring: Affective Agents for Interactive Storytelling. In: Applied Artificial Intelligence: An International Journal, Taylor and Francis, Vol. 28, Iss. 6, pp. 629-645.
Müller, W., Spierling, U., Stockhausen, C. (2013). Production and Delivery of Interactive Narratives Based on Video Snippets. In: Koenitz et al. (ed.), Interactive Storytelling, Proceedings of ICIDS 2013, Springer LNCS vol. 8230, Heidelberg, pp. 71-82.
Spierling, U. (2012). `Implicit Creation' - Non-Programmer Conceptual Models for Authoring in Interactive Digital Storytelling. PhD Dissertation. University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
Rank, Stefan; Hoffmann, Steve ; Struck, Hans-Georg; Spierling, Ulrike; Petta, Paolo (2012): Creativity in Configuring Affective Agents for Interactive Storytelling. In: Maher et al. (eds.): Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Computational Creativity, Dublin Ireland, May 2012, pp.165-169.
Spierling, U. (2011). Introducing Interactive Story Creators to Conversation Modelling. In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACE 2011), Lisbon, Portugal, November 2011.
Hoffmann, S., Spierling, U., Struck, G. (2011). A Practical Approach To Introduce Story Designers to Planning. In: Proceedings of GET 2011, IADIS International Conference Game and Entertainment Technologies, 22-24 July 2011, Rome, Italy.
Glock, F., Junker, A., Kraus, M., Lehrian, C., Schäfer, A., Hoffmann, S., Spierling, U. (2011). “Office Brawl” – A Conversational Storytelling Game and its Creation Process. Demonstration paper, Proceedings of ACE 2011, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2011.
Dang, K.D., Hoffmann, S., Champagnat, R. and Spierling, U. (2011). How Authors benefit from Linear Logic in the Authoring Process of Interactive Storyworlds. In: Si et al. (eds.): Proceedings of ICIDS 2011, LNCS vol. 7069, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 2011.
Dörner, Ralf; Schubert, Rolf; Spierling, Ulrike; David, Thorsten; von Stockert, Clemens (2011). Using Liebig's Barrel as a Metaphor for Guiding Game Development: Limiting Factors for Realizing Serious Games Conveying Corporate Culture. In Proceedings of the 4th International elBa Science Conference - eLearning Baltics 2011. Fraunhofer Verlag, Stuttgart, S. 133 - 143
Spierling, U., Hoffmann, S. (2010). Exploring Narrative Interpretation and Adaptation for Interactive Story Creation. In: Aylett, R. et al. (eds.): Interactive Storytelling, ICIDS 2010, Conference Proceedings, Edinburgh, UK; LNCS, Vol. 6432, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 2010.
Spierling, Ulrike (2009). Experimente in Game-based Learning mit interaktiven digitalen Geschichten. Hans W. Giessen (Hrsg.): Emotionale Intelligenz in der Schule. Unterrichten mit Geschichten. Beltz Pädagogik, ISBN 978-3-407-25484-9, Weinheim, 2009.
Spierling, U. (2009) Models for Interactive Narrative Actions. In: Ryan, M. (ed.): Interactive Entertainment, IE 2009, Conference Proceedings, Sydney, Australia; ACM Digital Library, 2009.
Spierling, U. (2009). Conceiving Interactive Story Events. In: I.A. Iurgel, N. Zagalo, and P. Petta (eds.): ICIDS 2009, Conference Proceedings, Guimaraes, Portugal; Springer Verlag LNCS, vol. 5915, pp. 292–297, 2009.
Spierling, Ulrike; Szilas, Nicolas (2009). Authoring Issues Beyond Tools. I.A. Iurgel, N. Zagalo, and P. Petta (eds.): ICIDS 2009, Conference Proceedings, Guimaraes, Portugal; Springer Verlag LNCS, vol. 5915, pp. 50–61, 2009.
Spierling, U. (2008). “Killer Phrases": Design steps for a game with digital role playing agents. In: Mayer, I. & Mastik, H. (eds.): Organizing and Learning through Gaming and Simulation, Proceedings of Isaga 2007, Eburon, Delft, ISBN 978 90 5972 2316, 2008.
Böse, R., Spierling, U., Struck, H.-G. (2008). Virtual Cultural Heritage – eine immersive, multimediale Anwendung am Beispiel des Klosters Georgenthal. In: I-COM 2/2008, Zeitschrift für interaktive und kooperative Medien, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag München, 2008.
Spierling, U. (2008). „Schöpfung Zwo-Punkt-Null“ - Die Erschaffung des virtuellen Menschen. W. Bergsdorf, H. Kill, S. Lochthofen, J. Römelt, J. Rüpke (Hrsg): Wunder – Provokation der Vernunft? Ringvorlesung der Universität Erfurt. Verlag der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Spierling, U. (2007). Adding Aspects of “Implicit Creation" to the Authoring Process in Interactive Storytelling. In: Cavazza, M., Donikian, S. (eds.): Virtual Storytelling, ICVS 2007, Conference Proceedings, Saint Malo, France; Springer Verlag LNCS, 2007. (Best Paper Award.)
Spierling, U., Weiß, S.A., Müller, W. (2006). Towards Accessible Authoring Tools for Interactive Storytelling. In: Goebel, Malkewitz, Iurgel (eds.): Technologies for Interactive Digital Storytelling and Entertainment, Conference Proceedings, Darmstadt, Springer Verlag LNCS, 2006
Spierling, Ulrike (2006). Learning with Digital Agents – Integration of Simulations, Games, and Storytelling. In: Burmester, M., Gerhard, D., Thissen, F. (eds.): Digital Game Based Learning - Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium for Information Design 2nd of June 2005 at Stuttgart Media University. Universitätsverlag Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe 2006. (S. 115-147)
Boden, C., Fischer, J., Herbig, K., Spierling, U. (2006). CitizenTalk: Application of Chatbot Infotainment to E-Democracy. In: Goebel, Malkewitz, Iurgel (eds.): Technologies for Interactive Digital Storytelling and Entertainment, TIDSE 2006 Conference Proceedings, Darmstadt, Springer Verlag LNCS, 2006
Spierling, Ulrike (2005). Interactive Digital Storytelling als eine Methode der Wissensvermittlung. Eibl, Reiterer, Stephan, Thissen (Hrsg.): Knowledge Media Design, Theorie – Methodik – Praxis. Oldenbourg-Verlag München, 2005 (S. 245-280).
Spierling, Ulrike (2005). Interactive Digital Storytelling: Towards a Hybrid Conceptual Approach. In: Conference Proceedings, Selected Papers of DIGRA 2005, Digital Games Research Association’s 2nd International Conference “Changing Views: Worlds in Play". Vancouver 2005
Spierling, U. (2005). Beyond Virtual Tutors – Semi-Autonomous Characters as Learning Companions. In: SIGGRAPH 2005 Educators Program, ACM International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, Full Conference DVD-ROM, Conference Select CD-ROM, Los Angeles 2005
Spierling, U.; Iurgel, I. (2003). "Just Talking About Art" - Creating Virtual Storytelling Experiences in Mixed Reality. In: Virtual Storytelling, Using Virtual Reality Technologies for Storytelling, Second International Conference, Proceedings ICVS 2003, Toulouse, France, Springer LNCS vol. 2897
Spierling, Ulrike; Grasbon, Dieter; Braun, Norbert; Iurgel, Ido (2002). Setting the Scene: Playing Digital Director in Interactive Storytelling and Creation. Elsevier Journal Computers & Graphics Vol. 26/1, Amsterdam
Kretschmer, U., Coors, V., Spierling, U., Grasbon, D., Schneider, K., Rojas, I., Malaka, R. (2001). Meeting the Spirit of History. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Virtual Reality, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, VAST 2001, Glyfada, Greece, pp. 161-172.