ORGANISERS

Prof. Dr. Merle Fairhurst (TU Dresden)

Merle is a cognitive neuroscientist with strong interdisciplinary ties that facilitate crosstalk with philosophers. She studies the interaction between sensory signals that allow us to make sense of the world around us and to successfully interact with others.

Her projects range from trying to understand what makes touch special to identifying factors that make interacting in a group different to interacting in pairs. As a classical singer, she is passionate about the special cases of sensory perception in music and art.

And, as a mother of five, she strongly believes in promoting women in academia.

Dr. Irene Valori (TU Dresden)

With a master's degree and a doctorate in developmental clinical psychology, Irene has expertise in the perceptual, motor, and cognitive aspects of humans’ interaction with virtual and multimedia environments, and the differences related to neurodiverse developmental trajectories. As a postdoctoral researcher at TUD and the Centre for Tactile Internet with Human-in-the-Loop, she investigates the role of affective touch in promoting interpersonal trust in technology-mediated social exchanges. 

Dr. Johannes Kraus (Ulm University)

Johannes is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Human Factors at Ulm University and head of the subject area ‘human-robot interaction’. One of his main research interests is decision-making processes in the interaction with intelligent systems, especially automated vehicles and robots. In this, besides others, his research focuses on trust processes in the adoption of these technologies and the role of user personality and attitudes.