The Impact of Dreamachine
In a unique collaboration, our team of artists, composers, technologists, scientists and philosophers set out to explore and chart our inner worlds, with the aim of sparking insight, reflection and curiosity. Our programme was designed to take audiences on a magical journey into their own minds: to uncover our hidden potential, to explore some of the greatest mysteries remaining to science, and to generate a sense of awe, wonder, and connection.
From May to September 2022, Dreamachine celebrated four sell-out, 5* reviewed shows across the UK, hosted in every nation. In each city, our audiences shared profound and transformative reflections on their experiences. We changed how people view themselves, and how they view their lives.
Dreamachine also generated an unprecedented body of research, unlocking new insights into the mind and exploring questions that have confounded philosophers and scientists for centuries. The Perception Census, the first major scientific study in the world to investigate perception in the round – attracted participation from over 100 countries. Our learning programme, developed in partnership with A New Direction, British Science Association and UNICEF UK, directly engaged over one million children and young people across the UK. From 2024, Dreamachine will tour internationally, with enquiries from over 40 cities, in 20 countries, across 6 continents – and counting.
Discover more about the key achievements and impacts of our programme below.
From 10 May to 25 September 2022, Dreamachine celebrated four sell-out shows across the UK: at Woolwich Public Market in London, Temple of Peace in Cardiff, Carlisle Memorial Church in Belfast and Murrayfield Ice Rink in Edinburgh – running 7 days a week, for 5 months. A 5* reviewed, critically acclaimed ‘must see’, each city experienced a 200% demand for tickets. Conjured entirely by just white light, audiences were fascinated by the similarities and the differences in their experiences, all viewed behind their closed eyes. Tens of thousands of colours were reported, with many witnessing colours they had never seen before. Some blind and partially sighted people even reported seeing colour for the first time. Over 15,000 people created reflections of their experiences, producing one of the largest collections of publicly generated artworks in the world.
A large-scale citizen science programme, the Perception Census is the first major scientific study of its kind in the world to investigate how we each experience the world in our own unique way, led by scientists and philosophers at the University of Sussex and the University of Glasgow, alongside a team of experience designers. Through the study, we’re exploring questions that have baffled, and divided, philosophers and scientists for centuries – including how we perceive time, our beliefs about consciousness, and our sense of self. To date, over 100,000 sections have been completed by nearly 35,000 people, totalling more than 30,000 hours of public participation in new scientific research – with participants ranging in age from 18, to their 80s. Participants from 133 countries have taken part, including the USA, Australia, India, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Singapore, South Africa, and across Europe.
Our major UK wide learning programme, developed in partnership with A New Direction, the British Science Association and UNICEF UK, has already achieved over 75,000 downloads. Fusing science with arts, the curriculum is built around the ideas, themes and possibilities explored through Dreamachine: the power of the human mind, our sense of self, how we see the world, and how we connect with others. Over 30 accredited lesson plans in Science, Citizenship, and Health and Wellbeing have so far reached over 1 million children and young people. Life’s Big Questions, our nationwide interactive children’s survey for ages 7+, brought some of the biggest philosophical questions into thousands of homes and classrooms across the UK. In 2023, our resources will be available internationally to ensure that learning remains an integral pillar of the Dreamachine programme as it tours the globe.
Dreamachine was designed to create emotional connection. Like a secular temple, the experience offered a rare space for shared reflection - a safe place for audiences to reconnect with themselves, and each other, in new and surprising ways. The opportunity for connection was designed into every part of the audience journey - with creative tools for writing, drawing, reading and conversation. During our 2022 tour, over 16,000 people enjoyed our Sensory Tool, a guided platform designed with Holition to help deepen self enquiry and reflection - with 74% reporting a feeling of love, compassion or connection. New friendships were formed, new collaborations were developed - people even fell in love.
Inclusion has been built into the very heart of our design principles, and we have created an experience that has been designed for audiences who normally experience multiple barriers to access arts and culture. The programme was developed with extensive focus groups, involving over 2,200 community participants in the prototyping and design of the experience to ensure it was as inclusive and accessible as possible - including for wheelchair users, those who use mobility aids, blind and partially sighted people, deaf and hard of hearing people, and those who are neurodivergent. As a result, many participants reported remarkable new experiences that they’d previously never imagined, or thought possible.
Unlike many immersive works of scale or spectacle, everybody is an artist in the Dreamachine. The heart of the experience, our circular drawing table designed by Assemble, became a profoundly popular place for our audiences to gather, to listen and to share. Thousands created artworks to represent their journey, including many who did not believe themselves to be creative - often drawing for the first time since childhood. This extraordinary library of stories now highlights the incredible range of the UK’s collective creativity, and as the experience travels the world, will continue to gather the very human thoughts, questions and emotions that unite us all.
Many visitors to the Dreamachine described profound emotional responses. Our Guardians played a key role in ensuring a positive Dreamachine experience and supporting our audience's journey. All 92 of our 2022 Front of House staff were trained in disability awareness, empathy and mental health first aid. As a result, one visitor said that the experience had such a positive effect on his mental health that he visited Woolwich Public Market 27 times. We received so many positive reports of increased wellbeing that our team at the University of Sussex are now developing a new research programme to explore how the technology underpinning Dreamachine could form novel interventions for mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety.
"Dreamachine provided a space where I felt safe to explore my perception. I felt accepted by others and found acceptance of myself. I do not doubt the potential this project holds for transformation on a dramatic scale. Don’t underestimate whats been created here. It’s beautiful. "
Audience participant in the Dreamachine, London
Hear from our participants
Each location that presented Dreamachine in 2022 has its own unique story. Our venues were chosen for the historic role they played in their communities, often as formerly public buildings that brought people together. The collection of unexpected, unconventional and strikingly distinct spaces we reimagined included a public market, a temple, a church and an ice rink. Bringing a cultural experience to four otherwise underused city centre spaces positively impacted the surrounding communities. Rather than present the work in established museums or galleries, we supported local independents to produce a site-specific programme - breathing new life into dormant spaces and supporting their future capital renovations.
A brand new collaboration, our award-winning interdisciplinary team worked with genuine commitment to co-design across the arts, sciences, technology and engineering. We brought together Turner Prize-winning artists Assemble, Grammy nominated composer Jon Hopkins, and a team of leading technologists, scientists and philosophers - including two major UK research institutions, the University of Sussex, and the University of Glasgow. Together, we worked with a wide range of partners to realise the 2022 programme, including Northern Ireland Science and Edinburgh Science; new, and established, cultural programmes, including Woolwich Works and Edinburgh International Festival; and two Discovery Centres, We the Curious and W5.
To deliver our ambitious 2022 programme, we worked with a wide network of suppliers, freelancers and institutions across the UK, creating hundreds of new employment opportunities. We worked closely with local authorities in each location, including Belfast Council, Royal Borough of Greenwich, and Cardiff Council, to ensure benefit and connection to local residents and communities. We created over 30 new jobs in each city, investing £1.25m in local people and suppliers across Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. We directly employed 162 staff and freelancers, working with a further 232 suppliers across the UK.
We made sustainable choices when constructing and delivering the Dreamachine. We used natural materials (wood, paper and wool), sustainably sourced, and minimised waste in production. We repurposed or reused materials, purchasing second hand, rather than new, steel. We hired local running teams in each city, took public transport, prioritised train travel and minimised flying. We offset the carbon footprint of our travel, supporting projects around the UK, including the hyper local: South East London Community Energy Co-op, Global Gardens (Cardiff) and Gairdín an Phobail (Belfast), the Beacon Project (Groundwork NI), and Trees for Life, rewilding the Scottish Highlands. Together, the contributions from Dreamachine saved over 50 tonnes of CO₂ with a minimum legacy impact of an additional 120 tonnes, supported communities to live sustainably and reduced fuel poverty.
"One of the most indescribably profound experiences of my life."
Audience participant in the Dreamachine, Belfast
Hear from our team
Thousands of audience testimonies have revealed the extraordinary power of the Dreamachine to inspire awe and wonder. Many of our audiences left the experience with profound questions about what it means to see, if they can ‘see’ with their eyes shut, and what it means to ‘be’, when they can so easily shift into a different state of awareness. There is increasing societal discussion around the mysteries of consciousness, and the lessons that non-ordinary states of consciousness and peak experiences can teach us. We designed the programme to appeal to those who may not think such experiences are readily available to them, as a safe and accessible entry point to a much deeper set of philosophical questions.
Dreamachine has generated an unprecedented body of new scientific research, and our audiences are directly contributing to an enquiry that has never before been attempted on this scale. Perceptual diversity applies to everyone, and bringing to light our inner differences could be transformational for society: there is no single way of perceiving the world against which others can be compared, and found wanting. Our findings will allow us to better understand how neurodivergence relates to perceptual diversity, in turn transforming our understanding of the human mind. The Census will be open into 2023, and our findings, currently being assessed by 2 PhD students, are likely to be published in 2025, impacting scientific research for years to come.
Dreamachine is the first time in the world the phenomenon of stroboscopically-induced visual experience has been explored on such a scale, and this has only been made possible by the unique collaboration between our expert team of technologists, neuroscientists, safety advisors, and neurologists. Researchers at the University of Sussex have been exploring what insights this mystery might reveal about the origin of consciousness for nearly a decade: and even with the tools of modern neuroscience, the question of how stroboscopic stimulation gives rise to such vivid experiences is still unanswered. The insights gleaned through our audiences experiences of Dreamachine will now support major new studies on the nature of perceptual experience.
Our UK wide learning programme, developed in partnership with the British Science Association and UNICEF UK, reached over 1 million young people. Fusing science with arts, our curriculum explored the key themes of Dreamachine essential for children’s creative, social and personal development. Our programme also included adult learning, with talks and presentations at the MAC (Belfast), the Science Museum (London), and a wealth of podcasts, books and learning resources - both live, and online. Some participants in the Perception Census have even gleaned previously undiscovered insights about their own powers of perception, discovering they have unique perceptual abilities, such as Synaesthesia.
"Dreamachine has given us the opportunity to develop art and science skills unimaginable for the primary curriculum but essential for children."
Mr Guerro, Curriculum Lead in Creative Arts, Hillyfield Primary Academy, London
Hear from our schools
We believe we’ve only just scratched the surface of what is possible with Dreamachine – creatively, socially, and scientifically. Could there be a Dreamachine on every high street? What experiences might we discover in other countries and cultures, and what could this tell us about the complex and beautiful nature of being human?
"If you put these machines in churches or temples, I'd go every week. This should be available for everyone, all the time."
- Audience member
