Lukáš Hejtmánek

I am an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague and a researcher at the Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. I am an avid fan of video games as a medium for psychological research and a true believer in virtual reality.

My journey in researching spatial cognition began with my master's thesis, and since then, I've been using game engines to investigate the different strategies people use for navigation. In 2017, I was fortunate enough to receive a Fulbright scholarship and spent a year in California delving into the process of spatial knowledge transfer between virtual reality and the real world.

After finishing my Ph.D. in 2020, my reach extended into other areas using VR to answer various scientific questions. Currently I'm involved in several exciting projects, including one that uses virtual environments to assess memory and another that investigates the relaxation potential of Czech forests through their digital twins. I've also been working on projects that examine spatial cognition impairment in patients with schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and cognitive decline in aging.

I used to play video games and board games since I can remember, but all currently takes a step back next to my scientific and family obligations. I never stopped playing, it's just that recently the game is to plan a new experimental design, deeply analyze some new data or try to prevent my firstborn not to eat a pencil.