Current Members

Asier Marzo has a PhD in Computer Science from the Public University of Navarra, where he researches and teaches. During his PhD he worked in serious games, augmented reality and acoustic levitation. He has participated in several national and international projects. He has publications in high-impact journals (e.g. Nature Communications, Physical Review Letters and PNAS) as well as articles in conferences A* (CHI, UIST, Multimedia and ISMAR). He was awarded the prize for the best academic experient in 2007, got a predoctoral fellowship from the Government of Navarra, and worked as a postdoc at the University of Bristol (United Kingdom). Currently his research focuses on using sound and light to manipulate matter as well as using cutting edge technology to create novel interactive devices.
His works have appeared in various TV programs (BBC, Antena 3, EiTB) and in numerous science and technology blogs (Microsiervos, Hackaday, TEDx, Instructables, IFL). One of its main objectives is to make research more accessible through the dissemination in workshops, talks and Do-it-yourself sites.

Adriana graduated in Nursing at the Public University of Navarre (2003) and in 2005 she specialised in medical-surgical nursing. She obtained a master in Nursing Care Management (2017) and in Health Science Research (2018). Between 2005 and 2013, she worked as a nursing assistant in medical-surgical units. From 2013 to 2016, she participated as a clinical research nurse in several neurology clinical trials. In 2016, she returned to nursing care in medical-surgical units.

She is a member of the Research Group on Techniques and Technologies for the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Care Services at the Health Research Institute of Navarra Foundation (IdiSNA) and a member of the Research Group on New Nursing Practices (INNO-CARE) at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA). Adriana is passionate about novel technology and how it can be applied to nursing. She is currently focused on haptic technology.

Work in progress...

Amalia studied Computer Engineering at the University of Deusto ESIDE (2000), completing her degree at the Lund Universitet (Sweden) with an Erasmus scholarship. She has a Master in Virtual Reality from the University of Deusto ESIDE (2001).

In 2008, she obtained her Phd at the Faculty of Informatics at the University of the Basque Country in emotional interaction through 3D avatars.

From 2001 to 2009 she worked as a researcher at the Center for Visual Interaction Technologies and Communications (VICOMTech), holding the position of director of Interactions for Education, entertainment and E-Inclusion from 2006. From 2009 to 2011, she worked as Director of R&D at the videogame company ENNE Entertiainment Studios. From 2012 to 2019, she was director of operations at the company VISIONA Control Industrial.

Since 2019, she works full time at the Public University of Navarra, although she has been teaching since 2008 as an associate professor.

Elodie Bouzbib is currently a Postdoctorate researcher at UpnaLab - Interactive Future Devices. Her field of research is around Ubiquitous Haptic Interfaces for eXtended Realities, either using passive, active or pseudo-techniques.

She previously received her PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, Haptics, Virtual Reality and Robotics at Sorbonne Université (Paris, France), and did a first post-doctorate fellowship at Inria Rennes (France) and Skoltech Moscow (Russia).

She received the Award for Best Pluridisplinary PhD Thesis from AFIHM – the French Speaking Association of Human-Computer Interaction, in 2022. She mostly designs robotised interfaces to enhance haptics in eXtended Reality. She originally has a Master’s Degree of Engineering from l’Ecole des Mines d’Albi-Carmaux.

She also spent three years developing and designing wearable prototypes using EAPs (electro-active polymers) as a Systems Integration Team Lead at StretchSense Limited (Auckland, New Zealand).

Iñigo Ezcurdia is an Assistant Professor at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), where he also received his B.Eng., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science. His research focuses on the intersection of acoustics, human-computer interaction, and advanced fabrication techniques, with particular emphasis on ultrasound levitation, haptics, and novel display technologies.

Dr. Ezcurdia has published extensively in top-tier venues, including SIGGRAPH, UIST, CHI ISS, IEEE Transactions on Haptics, and Scientific Reports. He also brings industry experience, having worked as a freelance web and mobile application developer.

Beyond his academic achievements, Iñigo actively contributes to his community as a Scout Leader and volunteer for the Navarra Lan Party.

Iosune Sarasate Azcona is an artist and researcher based in Pamplona, Spain. In her work she plays with possibilities and alternatives through technology, hoping to open up multiple possible futures.

She completed a BA in Arts (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea), a MA in Visual Arts and Multimedia (Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia) and a MA in Interface Cultures (Kunstuniversität Linz).

Her work has been exhibited in different art centres and festivals such as Ars Electronica festival (Austria), WIP Festival (Cyprus), Atelierhaus Saltzam (Austria), Mediaestruch (Spain) and Centro Huarte (Spain).

She has also participated in several artistic residencies such as the Young Art Residencies of Navarra or the Digital Arts Residencies of Mediaestruch.

Ismel Dominguez Rodriguez is a Telecomunications and Electronics engineer graduated from the Hermanos Saiz Montes de oca University, Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 2009. He is a Substitute Professor at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), where he also received Ph.D. degree in Communication Technologies, Bioengineering and Renewable Energies in 2023. His research focuses on optic fiber sensors based on Lossy-Mode resonance and volumetric display technologies.

Graduated in Physics by the Universidad de Zaragoza (2021) and Master in Physics of the Universe: Cosmology, Astrophysics, Particles and Astroparticles by the Universidad de Zaragoza (2023), where he was awarded an extraordinary prize for his academic record. Currently working as a collaborator in UpnaLab's projects related to InteVol project. Passionate about theoretical physics and, above all, about pushing the boundaries of science.

• Josu has a PhD in Computer Science from the Public University of Navarra and is focused on HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) research field. He has obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, also at the Public University of Navarre. He specialized his studies in Project Management and Quality Engineering and participated in the international program European Project Semester (EPS) in Hochschule Osnabrück (Germany) after receiving an ERASMUS+ scholarship.

• Currently, he is immersed in the TRANSPER project funded by the Erasmus+ EU programme for education, training, youth and sport. This project aims to develop a transdisciplinary learning methodology based on the technologies and the performing arts through a custom software that transforms pre-recorded human movements, like on stage.

• He worked in the FET TOUCHLESS project (Touchless Haptic Experience with Neurocognitive AI) funded by the EU H2020 program, in which he could perform his doctoral thesis titled Novel Contactless Haptic Technologies for Creating Affective Sensations when Interacting with Computer Systems. During his PhD, Josu completed his international internship within the Mehr Research group at the Advanced Research Centre (ARC) of the University of Glasgow.

• Main contributions:

• Electric Plasma Guided with Ultrasonic Fields - Science Advances (Q1)


• TOUCHLESS Demonstrations - Human-Computer Interaction CHI 2023(A⁺)


• StreamFog - Human-Computer Interaction CHI 2026 (A⁺)

I am a graduate student at Tsukuba University in Japan, and I have a deep interest in fluid engineering.

My research focuses on the internal and external flow of a droplet suspended in an acoustic field, and attempts to elucidate the interaction of each flow field through visualization and measurement.

I am visiting UPNALAB as an internship student for 3 months, and working on the development of an angular motion field device using acoustic phased array.

Lander studied computer science at Upna and is currently taking a Master in Machine Learning. He likes computer graphics, fluid simulations and how to optimize time-domain simulations in the GPU.

Manuel is a new researcher working at UpnaLab. He has done his master's degree on Machine Learning and AI at Universidad politécnica de Madrid and his bachelor degree on Computer Science at the UPNA. Currently focused on developing software, simulations and machine learning systems, he is glad to be working in the various research proyects that UpnaLab hosts. During this interesting times, these fields evolve every day. There could not be a better moment to research and find innovative aplications for them.

Work in progress...

Mikel Aldea is a second year PhD student at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), where he also received his Bachelor degree in Data Science. In addition, he obtained a master's degree in Computational Engineering and Mathematics at the University of Rovira i virgili. His research focus on optimization of acoustic patterns and haptics.

Naroa is a computer engineer graduated from the Public University of Navarre (UPNA). She is passionate about integrating theory and practice in engineering to find novel solutions that help people on a daily basis.
She studied an expert degree about AI in the UNED and the Data Science and Machine Learning expert degree at UPNA because she believes that integrating AI into engineering solutions can lead to great outcomes. She studied the Master in Computer Engineering at UPNA as well.
She worked as a full stack developer at Openbravo. After that she worked as a project assistant at Upna, creating a Random Forest algorithm capable of detecting crop types from raster images. After that, she started working at Tracasa as a consultant for the European Environment Agency. This job gave her the chance to go to Copenhagen during 6 months to work at the European Environment Agency as a software consultant.
She has started working as a teacher at Upna and as a researcher in the UpnaLAB group.

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science by the Public University of Navarra (2023) and Master's degree in Computer Science by the same university (2025). She also has work experience acquired in a company specialising in artificial vision. She currently works as a project collaborator at Upnalab, within the framework of the Intevol project.

He is a Doctor from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He has participated in European and national projects in the field of computer technologies.

His research is focused on computer systems to support individual, group and network creativity.

He develops projects of computer applications in different supports: mobile, web, 3D-printing, natural interfaces, multi-touch, virtual reality and augmented reality.

He directs Phds in the field of interactive and collaborative technologies. He comments his work in the blog: http://beyondaround.wordpress.com

I am passionate about emerging technologies, haptics and acoustic levitators. I have worked in two H2020 FET projects (Levitate and Touchless). My research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is at the intersection of tangible user interfaces, wearables, and novel ultrasonic devices (designing acoustic levitators and haptics). Currently, I am creating interactive systems using ultrasound transducers and gesture-based interaction techniques to enable powerful applications in smart environments. My projects aim to design, build and evaluate radically new future technologies to overcome societal challenges.

Sebastián is a Computer Engineer graduated in the University of the Republic (Uruguay). He holds a master in Cognitive Systems and Interactive Media and a PhD in Computer Science from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain). During his PhD he worked in the design of tangible systems for children with and without visual impairments, specifically for mathematics learning. He is currently working as a postdoc in the Public University of Navarra, where he is researching manipulation techniques and haptic feedback in VR.

He has experience and enjoys working within interdisciplinary groups. He has conducted his investigation following a desgin-based research, developing prototypes and conducting user studies. He bases his research in “people-centered” methodologies such as User-Centered and Participatory Design.

He also has more than 10 years of hands-on professional experience working under several roles within development teams such as: Full-stack developer (JAVA 2EE expertise), security software researcher and team leader/development coordinator.

Specialities: HCI/UX design – User Centered Design – Multimodal Systems – Tangible Interaction – Full Stack Developer – Smart Environments – IOT – Android – Web – Java 

Recent Projects:

CETA: https://www.ceta.edu.uy/

LETSMath: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3236112.3236157

Work in progress

Sonia is a PhD student focused on the development of Machine Learning models inspired in neurocognitive science.
She studied Computer Engineering with a specialization in Computing and Intelligent Systems (2019) and a master’s degree in Computer Engineering (2021) at Universidad Pública de Navarra (Spain). She finished her degree at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) with an Erasmus+ Scholarship.
During her studies, she collaborated with the research group GIARA in applications of the gradient algorithm for image border detection (2017-2018) and new techniques for data clustering (2019-2020). She also worked as project assistant for UpnaLab research group (2020) simulating tomographic displays.
Aware of the gender gap in technical fields such as her own, she is a scientific communicator and STEM mentor. Currently, she is engaged in “Cátedra Mujer, Ciencia y Tecnología” leading projects to inspire and promote scientific careers among high-school students. She is a staff member of Navarra LAN Party, an annual event for tech lovers.

Born in 1997, he is a master's student at the University of Tsukuba, studying Informatics in collaboration with AIST. His research interests include human-computer interaction (HCI), with a focus on bio-mimicry, product design, and digital fabrication. His project, "Kuchibashi," won 1st prize in the ACM Student Research Competition. Currently, his research focuses on the crossover of bio-inspired product design, digital fabrication, acoustic holography, and AI-aided design.

Appasionate about drawing, carpentry and wood burning. Currently doing a PhD about interaction techniques in volumetric displays. His strongest points are programming and graphic computation mathematics.

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science (2024) and Master's degree in Computer Science (2026) from the Public University of Navarra. He has worked at a company specialising in the development of web apps, and also has practical experience with WebXR and VR technologies.

Passionate about e-sports. She obtained a Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering at the Public University of Navarra. Currently he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Computer Science.
Her research is focused on magnetic field actuation and its application in board game automation.
Apart from the typical Computer Science expertise, she has experience with microcontrollers, PCB design and electronics.

My research in haptics spans three dimensions of the field: the development of new haptic interfaces, the creation of content for these devices, and the exploration of the psychophysical aspects of how users perceive this content. Haptic interfaces form the backbone of haptic technology, providing the means for interaction. However, without high quality, diverse haptic content created using machine learning and deep learning, these interfaces would have limited applications. Psychophysical research ensures that both the interfaces and the content they deliver are aligned with human sensory capabilities, making the haptic experiences realistic and satisfying.