Collective Act (UK) Dreamachine was created by award-winning producers of powerful large-scale participatory commissions. We create emotionally engaged, meaningful shared experiences that bring people together and transform the way we look at the world. We champion a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach to producing new work, creating space for taking risks and the unexpected to bring ambitious ideas to life. Collective Act is led by Jennifer Crook, an internationally renowned Producer and Director who has led critically acclaimed public projects for festivals and arts organisations around the world, creating multi award-winning interdisciplinary commissions with artists including Olafur Eliasson, Danny Boyle, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and Jeremy Deller.

The scientific and philosophical research underpinning the Dreamachine programme and The Perception Census is led by world-leading academics Professor of Neuroscience Anil Seth from the University of Sussex and Professor of Philosophy Fiona Macpherson from the University of Glasgow. It is overseen by Professor Anil Seth’s team at the Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, and is supported by more than 20 collaborating researchers around the world.

Professor Anil Seth (UK) is a neuroscientist, author, and public speaker who has pioneered research into the brain basis of consciousness for more than twenty years. He is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Program on Brain, Mind and Consciousness, a European Research Council Advanced Investigator, and Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Neuroscience of Consciousness. He has published more than 200 research papers and is recognized by Web of Science as being in the top 1% of researchers in his field in the world.

Dr David Schwartzman (UK) is a Senior Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. He is a cognitive neuroscientist, whose research investigates the neural basis of altered states of consciousness. His PhD specialised in the analysis of electrical signals from the brain using EEG and investigated the functional role of high frequency brain activity (gamma oscillations) in visual perception.

Professor Fiona Macpherson (UK) FRSE, MAE, is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, and Director of the Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience (CSPE). She is president of the British Philosophical Association, a trustee of the Kennedy Memorial Trust, and a member of Arts and Humanities Research Council and the UK Research and Innovation Creative Industries Advisory Group. Her research concerns the philosophical nature of consciousness, perception, illusion, hallucination, imagination, and technological interventions on the senses including VR and AR.

Immersive experience and large-scale global study that allowed thousands of visitors and participants to engage with academic researchers in a pleasant way. This programme allows to co-create an artwork while helping researchers to address new scientific questions around topics like consciousness or perception.