An immersive experience like no other
Dreamachine is an invitation to explore the extraordinary potential of your own mind. A new kind of secular temple, the experience provides a rare space for shared refection.
Like a campfire, the experience is held in the round, and as you close your eyes, a bath of light and sound weave seamlessly together to generate a richly technicolour internal world, created by the power of your own brain and completely personal to you.
A multi-sensory experience with 360 degree spatial audio, Dreamachine offers an entirely new way to disconnect from everyday life, and reconnect with both yourself and others.
Only you will know, because every experience of the Dreamachine is completely personal.
You might see patterns and shapes, cities and landscapes, or abstract waves of shifting colours. It might feel like a rollercoaster ride, a journey through time and space, or you might even drift into sleep.
A sell out success across every nation of the UK in 2022, from 2025, Dreamachine will begin to tour internationally. You can be the first to hear about our new locations by signing up to our newsletter.
"Each participant will step into their own inner universe, experiencing something unique and revealing about themselves. A transcendental and enjoyable ride… I can’t wait to do it again. "
Buzzmag Magazine
Created by Collective Act, in collaboration with a team of leading technologists, artists, scientists and philosophers, Dreamachine features two experiences designed to offer complete sensory immersion.
Combining flickering white lights – known as strobe lighting – with a bespoke score composed in 360 degree spatial sound, High Sensory is a deeply personal and multi-sensory experience designed to be viewed with your eyes closed.
For many, the choreography of lights and music conjures colourful patterns and kaleidoscopic visuals inside your mind. The experience is created by your own brain and completely unique to you.
Curl up in a blanket, sit back, close your eyes and get lost in a moment that is just for you. Deep Listening is a spatial audio experience with the same score as High Sensory, accompanied by a gently shifting light scape.
The experience does not contain flashing lights and is considered suitable for those with epilepsy or a sensitivity to strobe lighting or high sensory environments. If you are sensitive to loud music, ear defenders or ear plugs can be provided.
New cities presenting Dreamachine in 2025 will be announced soon. You can read about our previous locations below.
Studio Dreamachine was our pilot version of Dreamachine in a more intimate setting, seating 12 people at a time, and ran at Hackney Downs Studios from July to December 2023. During our sell-out UK tour, many visitors asked for Dreamachine to be available permanently, as they found it offered multiple benefits to their mental health and wellbeing. The Studio was designed to provide a new space for reflection and relaxation that was accessible and easy to integrate into everyday life - something you could pop into on your lunch break, on your way to work, or for an evening out with friends and family.
Dreamachine reimagined Murrayfield Ice Rink, transforming this Art Deco space after it was recently forced to close its doors due to Covid-19. Built in 1938, it has been home to one of the world’s most popular ice rinks, providing a central hub of entertainment and events for generations of locals.
Carlisle Memorial Church is one of the city’s most striking buildings, which has served as a gateway to North Belfast since 1875. After ceasing to be a place of worship in the 1980s, the church fell into disrepair before a major campaign in 2008 to secure its regeneration. Dreamachine's visit helped to revitalise the venue and contributed to the return of the building as a vibrant and shared community space.
Premiering in London, Dreamachine transformed the Grade II listed Woolwich Public Market. Located on Plumstead Road, the Market was built in 1931 and is the earliest known example of a Lamella roof to survive in England. It has been dormant since 2018, so the presentation of Dreamachine reawakened the space and provided the public with an opportunity to reconnect with this historic building in the heart of the town centre, ahead of the future regeneration of the area.
This beautiful building was designed to ‘change the world’. A fitting space for current times, it was built in the wake of the First World War, designed to be a place of inspiration, actively furthering the causes of international peace. The Dreamachine experience was live within this magnificent Art Deco civic temple from 12 May - 18 June 2022, providing audiences with a unique and poignant setting for internal reflection.
Dreamachine will be reopening in the UK and touring internationally soon. To hear the news first, sign up to our mailing list below.
The Dreamachine is a seated, multisensory immersive experience with music and light, designed to be enjoyed with your eyes closed. Learn more.
The rich inner journeys created by the High Sensory Dreamachine experience are linked to something known as ‘entrainment’ – gentle changes to brain activity created by synchronisation to flickering light, which affects activity in the visual areas of the brain. The frequency of the light provides a ‘beat’ for the rhythms of the brain, similar to the ‘alpha’ rhythm – a brain state normally associated with relaxation. This discovery was first made by the pioneering British neuroscientist Dr Grey Walter in the 1950s.
The question of exactly why flickering light gives rise to such vivid experiences is still unanswered. Our scientific team at the Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, have been investigating this mystery for over a decade and exploring what it might reveal about the nature of consciousness. For a deeper dive into the subjects behind the Dreamachine, visit our Discover page.
