Dr. Zeynep Akbal
Zeynep Akbal works as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Experimental Surgery at the Department of Surgery, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
She studied communication sciences, media sciences and media philosophy, and worked on developing her interdisciplinary method. She did her doctorate in philosophy at Universität Potsdam. Her dissertation is recently published as a monograph, titled »Lived-Body Experiences in Virtual Reality. A Phenomenology of the Virtual Body«.
Her research focuses on the intersection of philosophy of perception, cognitive sciences and virtual reality (VR). In her recent post-doc project (»Tactile Stimulation in VR« at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences), she focused on the behavioral consequences of haptic feedback in a VR task.
Campus Virchow-Klinikum
Augustenburger Platz 1
13353 Berlin
Monographs & Books
Akbal, Zeynep. 2023. Lived-Body Experiences in Virtual Reality: A Phenomenology of the Virtual Body. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag.
Articles in Edited Volumes
Stertz, L., Achatz, R., Akba, Z. 2015. »LEBEN IM PROZESS - Zwischen Performativität und Performance.« In Metabasis - Transkriptionen zwischen Literaturen, Künsten und MedienKraft der Alterität, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 35-50.
https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839423554-002
Articles
Akbal, Z., Daneshgar, A., Morgül, M. H., Moosburner, S., Pratschke, J., Sauer, I. M., Queisner, M. 2025. »Exploring the Need for Haptic Feedback and Improved Communication in Robotic-Assisted Surgery: A Surgeon-Centered Survey.« IEEE Access, 13: 197889-197898.
https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3633553
Conference Proceedings
Akbal, Z., Sauer, I., Yadygina, A., Remde, C., Blumenthal, J. & Queisner, M. 2026. »Haptic Interaction Toolkit for Robotic-Assisted Surgery.« Forthcoming, eBook ISBN 978-3-032-11983-4. Presented at the International XR-Metaverse Conference 2025, Maastricht University, Maastricht Netherlands, 25. June 2025. Netherlands: Springer Nature, Chapter 32 (p. 230-243)9.
https://link.springer.com/book/9783032119827#bibliographic-information
Talks & Presentations
Akbal, Z., Yadygina, A., Remde, C., Blumenthal, J., Sauer, I., Queisner, M. Towards Digital Surgery: Haptic Interaction Toolkit for Robotic Surgery. Talk at the Cluster day (Final presentation). Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 30 September 2025.
https://www.experimental-surgery.de/digitalsurgery/projects/haptic_interaction/
Akbal, Z. Haptic Interaction for Robotic Assisted Surgery in Virtual Reality. Talk at the International XR-Metaverse Conference 2025, XR & Metaverse in Care and Surgery. Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands. 25 June 2025.
https://www.xrm2025.com/_files/ugd/9aa9b6_b47e615b2d744ec28595db65694e7e7c.pdf
Akbal, Z. (presentation), Sauer, I. M. (official opening). Embodiment in Virtual Reality. Talk at the Virtual Reality in Mental Health, Paul Gerhardt Stiftung, Berlin. Hybrid. 11 September 2024.
https://www.bihealth.org/en/notices/hot-topic-seminar-virtual-reality-in-mental-health
Akbal, Z. Multi-sensory integration in VR, subjectivity and phenomenology of VR experiences. Talk at the Micro-Phenomenology Crash Course. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 9 February 2024.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/13107/micro-phenomenology-crash-course
Events & Workshops
Queisner, M., Akbal, Z., Sauer, I., Yadygina, A., Mita, A. M. Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften. Berlin. 28 June 2025.
https://gedenkort.charite.de/fileadmin/user_upload/portal_relaunch/die-charite/Veranstaltungen/2025/LNDW_2025/Programm_LangeNacht_2025.pdf
Calvé, M., Akbal, Z. Micro-Phenomenology Crash Course. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 7 February 2024 - 9 February 2024.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/13107/micro-phenomenology-crash-course; https://www.maximelecalve.com/on-going-fieldwork/2024/2/10/aglu82gozf4y2zor44rcv334b2trs0
Nestler, A., Ott, C., Wegener, F. (organizers), with contributions by Akbal, Z., Almpani-Lekka, D., Beyer, B., Dierichs, K., Eder, M., Farmer, J., Fekonja, L., Krauthauen, K., Miodragović, N., Queisner, M., Rodrigues, L., Singer, N., Stein, C, Winkler, C. Open Space – Active Matter on Stage. Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, Berlin. Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 8 November 2023 - 9 November 2023.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/11681/open-space-active-matter-on-stage
Prizes & Competition Awards
Akbal, Z., Maurer, M., Queisner, M., Sauer, I., Remde, C., Rüger, C., Eisenträger, K., Winter, A. 2024. Max Rubner Award. Innovation. »››Patient empowerment through immersive hospital experience before operations or procedures‹‹ (PERISKOP).« Stiftung Charité.
https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/13825/researchers-from-matters-of-activity-awarded-the-max-rubner-prize-2024; https://nachrichten.idw-online.de/2024/04/24/zwei-ki-innovationsprojekte-mit-dem-max-rubner-preis-2024-ausgezeichnet?groupcolor=3