Stefan Sommer

Member of Realistic Depictions lab

Stefan Sommer has been working as a research associate and PhD student in the Realistic Depictions Lab at the IWM since January 1, 2025. In his dissertation, he investigates AI-based pedagogical agents and their potential to support knowledge construction in interactive learning processes. For this purpose, he implements state-of-the-art AI avatars capable of realistically simulating human-like interactions. Stefan began his work at the IWM in June 2023 with an internship, during which he explored the influence of AI-generated voice similarity on information processing. From October 2023 to December 2024, he worked as a research assistant, where he contributed to an ongoing project investigating cognitive responses to historical objects. His master’s thesis: “The Influence of AI-Generated Pedagogical Agents Based on Self-Determination Theory and Historical Figures on Motivation and Learning Outcomes” was also supervised at the IWM.

Stefan Sommer studied Psychology (B.Sc., 2020) at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf. During his bachelor's studies, he focused on human-AI interaction and social robotics as part of a research internship and his thesis. He then completed the master’s program in Cognitive Science (M.Sc., 2024) at the University of Tübingen.