Dreamachine: Deep Listening

Sit back, close your eyes and join us on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to explore the extraordinary potential of your own mind.

Dreamachine is an immersive experience like no other.

Curl up in a blanket, sit back and get lost in a moment that is just for you.

Dreamachine: Deep Listening is an alternative to the Dreamachine: High Sensory experience, designed to be accessible to those who cannot experience fast flashing lights.

Dreamachine: Deep Listening will take you on a relaxing journey through light and sound. As a gentle curated lightscape washes over you, Jon Hopkin's 360-degree spatial audio will take you on a deeply immersive sonic experience. You can enjoy the experience with your eyes open or with your eyes closed, letting the sound take the lead.

This unique experience is a chance to disconnect from everyday life and reconnect with both yourself, and others.

Dreamachine has been created by a team of leading minds in architecture, technology, music, neuroscience, and philosophy, including Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble and Grammy-nominated composer Jon Hopkins.

Like a modern kind of campfire, you’ll share your Dreamachine journey with a group of up to 32 people at a time. After your experience, you’ll be invited to reflect on what you heard and how you felt, by yourself or with others.

Dreamachine is presented by Collective Act and UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK in partnership with Edinburgh Science as part of Edinburgh International Festival.

There are two versions of the Dreamachine experience:

Deep Listening

The Deep Listening experience is an immersive 360 degree spatial audio experience, with a gentle lightscape and has been designed to make the experience as accessible as possible.

High Sensory

There is also a High Sensory version of the Dreamachine experience, which uses fast flashing bright lights, known as strobe lighting, with 360-degree spatial audio to create a deeply immersive experience. For many people, the effects of the lights and the music will generate colourful patterns and visuals behind your closed eyes. You will need to complete a pre-booking form before booking the High Sensory experience.

Find out more about the High Sensory experience.

This immersive experience has been created by Collective Act, directed by Jennifer Crook, in a unique collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artists Assemble, Grammy® nominated composer Jon Hopkins, leading neuroscientists Professor Anil Seth and Dr David Schwartzman (University of Sussex), philosopher Professor Fiona Macpherson (University of Glasgow), sound designer Christopher Shutt, and technologists Dev Joshi and Holition.

Commissioned as part of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK, with support from Belfast City Council, EventScotland and Creative Wales.