Subproject D03

 

Sub-Project D03

Contact-Free Measurement of Stress, its Determinants and Consequences

Stress is a widespread concern in today’s world, impacting individual well-being and productivity within organizations. However, the conventional methods of stress assessment, which often involve invasive procedures, have hindered progress in this field.

In this sub-project, we are using contact-less empathokinesthetic sensory modalities to explore their application in experimentally induced acute psychosocial stress scenarios. By analyzing macro and micro movements, we gain valuable insights into the relationship between stress and physiological responses, uncovering subtle cues that arise during stressful experiences. Our goal is to understand how stress affects bodily movements and physiology, which can refine stress detection and interventions in real-life situations. Ultimately, the outcomes of this sub-project have the potential to impact how we address stress-related challenges in various settings.

 

Contacts

Prof. Dr. Nicolas Rohleder

Principal Investigator

Felicitas Burkhardt, M. Sc.

Associtated Doctoral Candidate

Miriam Kurz, M. Sc.

Doctoral Candidate

Luca Abel, M. Sc.

Associate Doctoral Candidate

Isabella Hebel, M. Sc.

Associated Doctoral Candidate

Annika Heuler, M. Sc.

Associated Doctoral Candidate

Carolin Oeler, M. Sc.

Associated Doctoral Candidate

Veronika Ringgold, M. Sc.

Associated Doctoral Candidate

 

Dr.-Ing. Robert Richer

PostDoc

Dipl.-Biol. Petra Schatz

Laboratory Manager

 

 

Additional Information

  • Heuler A., Hebel I., Richer R., Rohleder N., Barke A., Weise C.:
    Sensor-based Measurement of Fear Avoidance in Chronic Primary Low Back Pain: A Study Protocol
    4. Deutscher Psychotherapiekongress (Berlin, 7 April 2025 – 11 April 2025)
  • Oesten M., Abel L., Albrecht NC., Richer R., Langer D., Grießhammer S., Ghanem K., Steigleder T., Ostgathe C., Koelpin A., Eskofier B.:
    Systematic Investigation of Heart Sound Propagation using Continuous Wave Radar
    IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (2025), ISSN: 2168-2194. DOI: 10.1109/JBHI.2025.3530821
  • Richer R., Jorkowitz J., Stühler S., Abel L., Kurz M., Oesten M., GrießHammer SG., Albrecht NC., Küderle A., Ostgathe C., Kölpin A., Steigleder T., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    PEPbench — Open, Reproducible, and Systematic Benchmarking of Automated Pre-Ejection Period Extraction Algorithms
    Authorea (2025), DOI: 10.22541/au.173759858.84437639/v1
  • Ringgold V., Rohleder N.:
    Stress and resilience: associations of stress biomarkers with different conceptualizations of resilience
    Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 61 (2025), Art.Nr.: 101463, ISSN: 2352-1546. DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2024.101463
  • Abel L., Richer R., Hauck F., Kurz M., Ringgold V., Schindler-Gmelch L., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    Does acute stress exposure change gait patterns?
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 160 (2024), Art.Nr.: 106818. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106818
  • Albrecht N., Langer D., Krauß D., Richer R., Abel L., Eskofier B., Rohleder N., Kölpin A.:
    EmRad: Ubiquitous Vital Sign Sensing using Compact Continuous-Wave Radars.
    IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology (2024), S. 1-10
    ISSN: 2644-1276. DOI: 10.1109/OJEMB.2024.3420241
  • Hauck F., Romero Gibu L., Jansen S., Rohleder N.:
    Association of experienced trauma with acute stress responses in an immigrant sample in Germany
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 160 (2024), Art.Nr.: 106855, ISSN: 0306-4530. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106855
  • Krauß D., Engel L., Ott T., Bräunig J., Richer R., Gambietz M., Albrecht N., Hille EM., Ullmann I., Braun M., Dabrock P., Kölpin A., Koelewijn A., Eskofier B., Vossiek M.:
    A Review and Tutorial on Machine Learning- Enabled Radar-Based Biomedical Monitoring.
    IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology (2024), S. 1-22. ISSN: 2644-1276. DOI: 10.1109/OJEMB.2024.3397208
  • Kurz M., Richer R., Abel L., Hauck F., Ringgold V., Schindler-Gmelch L., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    f-TSST+: An extension to the friendly Trier Social Stress Test that enables better behavioral comparability during acute psychosocial stress.
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 160 (2024), Art.Nr.: 106862. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106862
  • Richer R., Abel L., Mücke A., Küderle A., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    CARWatch – An Open-Source Framework for Objective Cortisol Awakening Response Assessment
    DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106845
  • Richer R., Koch V., Abel L., Hauck F., Kurz M., Ringgold V., Müller V., Küderle A., Schindler-Gmelch L., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    Machine learning-based detection of acute psychosocial stress from body posture and movements.
    Scientific Reports 14 (2024), Art.Nr.: 8251. ISSN: 2045-2322. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59043-1
  • Ringgold V., Kaiser P., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    The Impact of a Deceptive Virtual Agent on Stress Markers in the Virtual Reality Stroop Room
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 160 (2024), Art.Nr.: 106852, ISSN 0306-4530. DOI:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106852.
  • Hauck F., Borho A., Romero Gibu L., Atal MR., Bendel P., Jansen S., Morawa E., Erim Y., Rohleder N.:
    Self-compassion as a potential moderator between perceived discrimination, verbal violence and chronic stress in an immigrant sample in Germany.
    Annual Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 8 März 2023 – 11 März 2023)
    Psychosomatic Medicine 2023
  • Küderle A., Richer R., Simpetru R., Eskofier B.:
    tpcp: Tiny Pipelines for Complex Problems – A set of framework independent helpers for algorithms development and evaluation.
    Journal of Open Source Software 8 (2023), S. 4953. ISSN: 2475-9066
    DOI: 10.21105/joss.04953
  • Krauß D., Richer R., Albrecht NC., Küderle A., Abel L., Leutheuser H., Jukic J., German A., Kölpin A., Winkler J., Eskofier B.:
    Contactless Heart Rate Estimation using a 61 GHz Continuous-Wave Radar.
    IEEE-EMBS International Conference on Body Sensor Networks: Sensor and Systems for Digital Health (MIT Media Lab, Boston MA, 9 Oktober 2023 – 11 Oktober 2023)
  • Oesten M., Richer R., Abel L., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    VoStress – Voice-based Detection of Acute Psychosocial Stress
    2023 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) (Pittsburgh, 15 Oktober 2023 – 18 Oktober 2023), DOI: 10.1109/BHI58575.2023.10313458
  • Richer R., Abel L., Küderle A., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    CARWatch – A smartphone application for improving the accuracy of cortisol awakening response sampling.
    Psychoneuroendocrinology 151 (2023), S. 106073. ISSN: 0306-4530. DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106073.
  • Richer R., Geßler T., Herzer L., Abel L., Küderle A., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    openTSST – An open web platform for large-scale, video-based motion analysis during acute psychosocial stress.
    IEEE-EMBS International Conference on Body Sensor Networks: Sensor and Systems for Digital Health (MIT Media Lab, Boston, MA, 9 Oktober 2023 – 11 Oktober 2023)
  • Richer R., Varkentin E., Kurmanbekova K., Müller V., Abel L., Ringgold V., Küderle A., Brich I., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Stress+ – Towards an Open-Source Web Application for the Remote Induction of Acute Psychosocial Stress.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106870
  • Richer R., Zenkner JJ., Küderle A., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Lower Vagal Response to the Cold Face Test during Acute Psychosocial Stress is Associated with Higher Cortisol Reactivity.
    DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106871
  • Ringgold V., Mehringer W., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    Stroop, Stress, and VR: Developing the Virtual Reality Stroop Room
    Würtual Reality XR Meeting (Würzburg, 11 April 2023 – 13 April 2023)
  • Seifer AK., Popp F., Richer R., Gaßner H., Eskofier B.:
    Improving the Robustness of IMU-based Sit-To-Stand Detection during Simulated Real-World Activities for Different Sensor Positions.
    IEEE Biomedical and Health Informatics Conference (Pittsburgh, 15 Oktober 2023 – 18 Oktober 2023).
  • Hauck F., Gibu LR., Jansen S., Rohleder N.:
    Differences in acute stress responses depending on first or second language in a Hispanic-American sample.
    Stress. The International Journal on the Biology of Stress 25 (2022), S. 313-322
    ISSN: 1025-3890. DOI: 10.1080/10253890.2022.2110466
  • Herzer L., Mücke A., Richer R., Albrecht NC., Heyder M., Jäger K., König V., Koelpin A., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Influence of Sensor Position and Body Movements on Radar-Based Heart Rate Monitoring.
    2022 IEEE-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) (Ioannina, 27 September 2022 – 30 September 2022). DOI: 10.1109/BHI56158.2022.9926775
  • Krauß D., Richer R., Küderle A., Beilner J., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Benchmarking of Sleep/Wake Detection Algorithms on a Large Cohort using Actigraphy, HRV, and Respiration Information.
    IEEE-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (Ioaninna, 26 September 2022 – 30 September 2022)
  • Müller V., Richer R., Jäger K., Henrich L., Berger L., Gelardi A., Eskofier B., Rohleder N.:
    The Stroop Competition: A Social-Evaluative Stroop Test For Acute Stress Induction.
    79th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society (Long Beach, CA, 23 März 2022 – 26 März 2022). In: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Hrsg.): Psychosomatic Medicine, PHILADELPHIA: 2022. DOI: 10.1109/bhi56158.2022.9926835.
  • Richer R., Koch V., Küderle A., Müller V., Wirth V., Stamminger M., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Detection of Acute Psychosocial Stress from Body Movements using Machine Learning.
    79th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society (Long Beach, CA, 23 März 2022 – 26 März 2022). In: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Hrsg.): Psychosomatic Medicine 2022
  • Richer R., Zenkner JJ., Küderle A., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Exploring the Cold Face Test as a Mechanism for Reducing Acute Psychosocial Stress Responses.
    79th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society (Long Beach, CA, 23 März 2022 – 26 März 2022)
    In: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Hrsg.): Psychosomatic Medicine 2022
  • Richer R., Zenkner JJ., Küderle A., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Vagus activation by Cold Face Test reduces acute psychosocial stress responses.
    Scientific Reports 12 (2022), Art.Nr.: 19270. ISSN: 2045-2322. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23222-9
  • Rohleder N., Richer R., Koch V., Küderle A., Müller V., Wirth V., Stamminger M., Eskofier B.:
    Effect of Acute Psychosocial Stress on Body Movements.
    79th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society (Long Beach, CA, 23 März 2022 – 26 März 2022). In: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Hrsg.): Psychosomatic Medicine 2022
  • Richer R., Küderle A., Dörr J., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    Assessing the Influence of the Inner Clock on the Cortisol Awakening Response and Pre-Awakening Movement.
    2021 IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI) (Athens, 28 Juli 2021 – 30 Juli 2021). DOI: 10.1109/BHI50953.2021.9508529.
  • Richer R., Küderle A., Ullrich M., Rohleder N., Eskofier B.:
    BioPsyKit: A Python package for the analysis of biopsychological data.
    Journal of Open Source Software 6 (2021), S. 3702. ISSN: 2475-9066. DOI: 10.21105/joss.03702