List of published research
JMIR Human Factors (2025)
Utilizing Gesture and Speech to Control Surgical Lighting Systems
The Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) - Human Factors 2025
Nima Zargham Anke Reinschluessel, Andre Mühlenbrock, Thomas Muender, Timur Cetin, Verena Nicole Uslar, Dirk Weyhe, Rainer Malaka, Tanja Döring
IUI 2025
BEHAVE AI: BEst Practices and Guidelines for Human-Centric Design and EvAluation of ProactiVE AI Agents
Companion Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces
Matthias Kraus, Sebastian Zepf, Rebecca Westhäußer, Isabel Feustel, Nima Zargham, Ilhan Aslan, Justin Edwards, Sven Mayer, Dimosthenis Kontogiorgos, Nicolas Wagner, Elisabeth André
HRI 2025
MetaMorph -- A Metamodelling Approach For Robot Morphology
Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
Rachel Ringe, Robin Nolte, Nima Zargham, Robert Porzel, Rainer Malaka
IJHCI (2025)
Let’s talk games: An expert exploration of speech interaction with NPCs
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction
Nima Zargham, Maximilian A Friehs, Leandro Tonini, Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Emma Grace Ruthven, Lennart E Nacke, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2025
Personas Evolved: Designing Ethical LLM-Based Conversational Agent Personalities
Proceedings of the 7th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
Smit Desai, Mateusz Dubiel, Nima Zargham, Thomas Mildner, Laura Spillner
IFIP-ICEC 2025
Beyond Scripts: Designing and Evaluating GenAI-Based NPCs in Video Games
International Federation for Information Processing – International Conference on Entertainment Computing (IFIP-ICEC 2025)
Nima Zargham, Leon Tristan Dratzidis, Mehrdad Bahrini, Rachel Ringe, Lisa Hesselbarth, Rainer Malaka
MUM 2024
Level Up or Game Over: Exploring How Dark Patterns Shape Mobile Games
Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia
Sam Niknejad, Thomas Mildner, Nima Zargham, Susanne Putze, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2024
Voicecraft: Designing Task-specific Voice Assistant Personas
Proceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
Mateusz Dubiel, Smit Desai, Nima Zargham, Anuschka Schmitt
MUM 2024
Designing AI Personalities: Enhancing Human-Agent Interaction Through Thoughtful Persona Design
Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia
Nima Zargham, Mateusz Dubiel, Smit Desai, Thomas Mildner, Hanz-Joachim Belz
IJHCI (2024)
Gaming with Etiquette: Exploring Courtesy as a Game Mechanic in Speech-Based Games
International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction
Nima Zargham, Leon Tristan Dratzidis, Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Maximilian A Friehs, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2024
HASI: A Model for Human-Agent Speech Interaction
Proceedings of the 6th ACM Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
Nima Zargham, Vino Avanesi, Thomas Mildner, Kamyar Javanmardi, Robert Porzel, Rainer Malaka
CHI 2024
"I Know What You Mean": Context-Aware Recognition to Enhance Speech-Based Games
Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Nima Zargham, Mohamed Lamine Fetni, Laura Spillner, Thomas Muender, Rainer Malaka
CHI 2024
CUI@ CHI 2024: Building Trust in CUIs—From Design to Deployment
Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Smit Desai, Christina Ziying Wei, Jaisie Sin, Mateusz Dubiel, Nima Zargham, Shashank Ahire, Martin Porcheron, Anastasia Kuzminykh, Minha Lee, Heloisa Candello, Joel E Fischer, Cosmin Munteanu, Benjamin R Cowan
University of Bremen 2024
Expanding speech interaction for domestic activities
PhD Dissertation
Nima Zargham
HAI 2023
"Let's Face It": Investigating User Preferences for Virtual Humanoid Home Assistants
Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction
Nima Zargham, Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Thomas Mildner, Robert Porzel, Rainer Malaka
MUM 2023
Tickling proactivity: Exploring the use of humor in proactive voice assistants
Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on mobile and ubiquitous multimedia
Nima Zargham, Leon Reicherts, Vino Avanesi, Yvonne Rogers, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2023
From C-3PO to HAL: Opening The Discourse About The Dark Side of Multi-Modal Social Agents
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
Vino Avanesi, Johanna Rockstroh, Thomas Mildner, Nima Zargham, Leon Reicherts, Maximilian A Friehs, Dimosthenis Kontogiorgos, Nina Wenig, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2023
“Funny How?” A Serious Look at Humor in Conversational Agents
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Conversational User Interfaces
Nima Zargham, Vino Avanesi, Leon Reicherts, Ava Elizabeth Scott, Yvonne Rogers, Rainer Malaka
CHI 2023
SelVReflect: A guided VR experience fostering reflection on personal challenges
Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Nadine Wagener, Leon Reicherts, Nima Zargham, Natalia Bartłomiejczyk, Ava Elizabeth Scott, Katherine Wang, Marit Bentvelzen, Evropi Stefanidi, Thomas Mildner, Yvonne Rogers, Jasmin Niess
HRI 2023
Human-Robot Conversational Interaction (HRCI)
Companion of the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
Donald McMillan, Razan Jaber, Benjamin R Cowan, Joel E Fischer, Bahar Irfan, Ronald Cumbal, Nima Zargham, Minha Lee
NordiCHI 2022
It’s Long and Complicated! Enhancing One-Pager Privacy Policies in Smart Home Applications
Nordic Human-Computer Interaction Conference
Mehrdad Bahrini, Nima Zargham, Alexander Wolff, Dennis-Kenji Kipker, Karsten Sohr, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2022
Understanding circumstances for desirable proactive behaviour of voice assistants: The proactivity dilemma
Proceedings of the 4th conference on conversational user interfaces
Nima Zargham, Leon Reicherts, Michael Bonfert, Sarah Theres Voelkel, Johannes Schoening, Rainer Malaka, Yvonne Rogers
CHI 2022
“I want it that way”: Exploring users’ customization and personalization preferences for home assistants
CHI conference on human factors in computing systems extended abstracts
Nima Zargham, Dmitry Alexandrovsky, Jan Erich, Nina Wenig, Rainer Malaka
CHI 2022
“I didn’t catch that, but I’ll try my best”: Anticipatory error handling in a voice controlled game
Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Nima Zargham, Johannes Pfau, Tobias Schnackenberg, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2021
May I interrupt? Diverging opinions on proactive smart speakers
Proceedings of the 3rd conference on conversational user interfaces
Leon Reicherts, Nima Zargham, Michael Bonfert, Yvonne Rogers, Rainer Malaka
CUI 2021
An evaluation of visual embodiment for voice assistants on smart displays
Proceedings of the 3rd conference on conversational user interfaces
Michael Bonfert, Nima Zargham, Florian Saade, Robert Porzel, Rainer Malaka
MUM 2021
Multi-agent voice assistants: An investigation of user experience
Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous multimedia
Nima Zargham, Michael Bonfert, Robert Porzel, Tanja Doring, Rainer Malaka
EAI Creative Technologies (2021)
Using Natural User Interfaces for Previsualization
EAI endorsed transactions on creative technologies
Rainer Malaka, Tanja Döring, Thomas Fröhlich, Thomas Muender, Georg Volkmar, Dirk Wenig, Nima Zargham
CHI PLAY 2020
Smells like team spirit: Investigating the player experience with multiple interlocutors in a VR game
Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Nima Zargham, Michael Bonfert, Georg Volkmar, Robert Porzel, Rainer Malaka
IFIP-ICEC 2020
Enhancing game-based learning through infographics in the context of smart home security
Entertainment Computing–ICEC 2020: 19th IFIP TC 14 International Conference
Mehrdad Bahrini, Nima Zargham, Johannes Pfau, Stella Lemke, Karsten Sohr, Rainer Malaka
CHI PLAY 2020
Good vs. evil: Investigating the effect of game premise in a smart home security educational game
Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Mehrdad Bahrini, Nima Zargham, Johannes Pfau, Stella Lemke, Karsten Sohr, Rainer Malaka
CHI PLAY 2019
What could go wrong? Raising mobile privacy and security awareness through a decision-making game
Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Nima Zargham, Mehrdad Bahrini, Georg Volkmar, Karsten Sohr, Dirk Wenig, Rainer Malaka