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.
Leire Cartagena (Junior Software Lead)
Leire Cartagena is a Computer Engineer specializing in Software Engineering, graduated from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in Spain. Her technical background includes Unity/C# development for XR environments and the development of LLM-based interactive systems. She initially joined the Extended Realities Research Lab through the Global Training programme and later continued at the lab as Junior Software Lead. Her work focuses on the technical development and operation of the lab’s XR projects, including the development and integration of VR applications and AI-powered interactive experiences, equipment and workstation configuration, and the establishment of technical workflows supporting the lab’s research, teaching, and demonstration activities.
Josef Jindra (IT Support & Software Development)
Josef Jindra is a final-year Bachelor’s student at the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics at the Prague University of Economics and Business. Alongside his studies, he provides IT support at the Faculty of Business Administration and contributes to the technical and operational development of ERRL. His background includes web development, research infrastructure administration, and the design and implementation of online surveys in LimeSurvey and REDCap. He has also supported interdisciplinary research projects by developing data-collection workflows and participant-facing web tools.
Tomáš Soldát (Software Development)
Tomáš Soldát is a master’s student in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at the Faculty of Informatics and Statistics, Prague University of Economics and Business, where he previously completed his bachelor’s degree in Applied Informatics with a thesis on data mining in large-scale traffic accident data. His technical background includes data engineering and analytics, with experience in Python-based ETL pipelines, data quality, and business intelligence, gained during his work as a data analyst at Siemens. Alongside his studies, he leads the IT support team at the Faculty of Business Administration and works as a software developer at the Extended Realities Research Lab, focusing on the development of the lab’s VR applications in Python, with a particular interest in the AI side of it.
Theodora Papadopoulou (intern)
Theodora Papadopoulou is a graduate of the Department of Informatics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She is currently completing her Erasmus+ internship at the Extended Realities Research Lab, where she contributes to the development and support of research activities related to extended reality technologies. Her academic background in Informatics has provided her with a solid foundation in software development, data analysis, and computer science, while her internship at the lab allows her to gain practical experience in an interdisciplinary research environment and further develop her technical skills.
Benjamin Đug (Doctoral Researcher / External)
Benjamin Đug is a finance professional and a doctoral candidate, focused on how immersive technologies shape work. He worked as a 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.