Team
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marko Orel (Academic Lab Director)
Marko Orel is an organizational sociologist and associate professor at the Prague University of Economics and Business, where he directs the Extended Realities Research Lab (ERRL) and leads the Centre for Workplace Research (CWER). His research bridges organizational studies with immersive technologies, investigating how virtual and augmented reality reshape workplace dynamics, team interactions, and organizational processes. Combining his expertise in workplace sociology with experimental methodologies, he explores human behavior and decision-making in virtual environments, while developing innovative approaches to studying organizational phenomena through extended reality. His interdisciplinary work spans organizational sociology, human-computer interaction, and workplace studies, contributing to both theoretical understanding and practical applications of immersive technologies in organizational research and training.
Kristýna Kopřivová (Research Fellow & Lab Operator)
Kristýna is a research fellow at the Center for Workplace Research at VŠE, and ERRL’s lab operator. She is currently completing her PhD at FSV UK, where she examines Palestinian identity through the lens of video art created by Palestinian artists. In addition to her academic work, she is an independent documentary filmmaker and audiovisual curator. Her research and creative practice focus on socio-political identity, conflict, and the influence of political and economic factors on art and cultural production, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian region.
Leire Cartagena (Computer Engineer Trainee)
Leire Cartagena is a Computer Engineer specializing in Software Engineering, recently graduated from the University of the Basque Country in Spain, with hands-on experience in interactive 3D web applications using BabylonJS, LLM-based systems, and Unity/C# development for XR environments. Her technical background is complemented by a decade-long personal interest in virtual and augmented reality and a strong self-directed learning ethos that led her to independently develop XR competencies beyond her formal curriculum. Leire has joined the Extended Realities Research Lab as a Computer Engineer Trainee through the Global Training programme, where she is contributing to the lab’s operationalization by supporting equipment configuration, setting up technical infrastructure, and helping establish the development workflows that will underpin the lab’s research activities.
Josef Jindra (IT Support)
Josef is a last-year Bachelor’s student at the Faculty of Informatics, Prague University of Economics and Business. He currently support the operational development of ERRL.
Benjamin Đug (Doctoral Researcher)
Benjamin Đug is a finance professional and PhD researcher focused on how immersive technologies shape work. He is Third Party Management Lead at Wise (Budapest) and holds an MSc in Finance from Central European University, with prior experience at Citi in London. He is currently a PhD student at the Prague University of Economics and Business, where he studies the adoption and impact of VR in professional environments, examining how immersive collaboration tools affect productivity, communication, and well-being in hybrid teams.