Mariachiara Rapuano is a researcher at the Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Immersive Virtual Reality (University of Campania L. Vanvitelli, Dept. of Psychology). She works in Cognitive Science and Environmental Psychology, focusing on spatial cognition, near-body space encoding, and embodied cognition. She uses immersive virtual-reality-based technology for studying hybrid interactions between virtual and real humans and the impact of simulated environmental features on individuals’ cognitive performance and emotional reactions.