We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Unboxed, a set of ten art-meets-science-meets-innovation-and-math commissions that are furthermore part of the Commonwealth Games in the UK…phew – that was a mouthful!  Dreamachine is one of those commissions, and I had the pleasure of traveling to the east part of London to check it all out before it started. And I am SO excited about this fully immersive art that allows you to create your own personal; art INSIDE your brain. Those of you that know a bit about Sensory Access know that I am a neuroscientist by trade/education, so getting to work with events and art that include neuroscience is amazing.

The original idea harks back to 1959, when artist Brion Gysin created a device that flickered light in a way that when experienced with your eyes closed, allows your brain to create its own visual imagery. Created by the fantastic team at Collective Act , the Dreamachine installatio, is an absolutely incredible experience. The creators of Dreamachine have made sure that every step has been carefully designed to create an incredible sensory experience! In the High Sensory experience, pulsating light stimulates the optic nerve and creates stunning images in your brain, unique to each person. This works as part of a process called entrainment – if you want to geek out on this with me, just search “entrainment” 🙂

This experience is indeed very intense in terms of sensory impact, so be aware that if you have sensory sensitivities, the “High Sensory” experience may not be for you. To be inclusive to all, Dreamachine has also created an alternative experience for those that are pregnant, have epilepsy, have sensory sensitivities or are under 18, called the “Deep Listening” experience that has no strobe lighting and features beautiful light washes as well as the same 360 degree spatial audio. All audio is under 80 decibels. If you are in the UK over the next few months we highly encourage you to check out one of the locations of this experience and create your own art, contemplate what your brain has created, and share that (or not) with a small community of others.

We are proud to be partnering with Dreamachine and unboxed2022 to make this event accessible for Neurodivergent individuals by creating Social Narratives and Sensory Rating Cards for each experience!

Check out the  Dreamachine Social Narrative  here!