Roxiva Strobe Experience

The Body Swap Illusion

Centre Directors

Poster Prize Award - winner Yesesvi Konakanchi

On Wednesday evening, the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science hosted a launch event to celebrate becoming a Centre of Excellence. The Centres of Excellence are our flagship centres of research, tackling challenges that are seemingly #ImpossibleUntilDone.

Centre Director Professor Anil Seth and Vice Chancellor Sasha Roseneil welcomed guests, who enjoyed taking part in mind-bending interactive demonstrations.

The Body Swap Illusion, enabled them to inhabit an inanimate object, and the Roxiva Strobe Experience gave them a multisensory journey through stroboscopic light and music.

Guests also had the opportunity to take the interactive tests that were part of the The Perception Census, a ground-breaking scientific study exploring the unique ways we each experience the world around us. In total, 33,780 people from 133 countries took part, completing 102,689 sections, making it the largest study of its kind.

Alongside the demonstrations, there were works by Brighton-based artist Anniek Verholt whose new body of work, "Seeing with My Eyes Closed," explores the intersection of art and perception, inspired by her collaboration with our neuroscience lab.

The evening ended with a £100 poster prize awarded to PhD student Yesesvi Konakanchi for their work on altered reality and colour perception.

Groundbreaking research from the Centre is advancing our understanding of consciousness, to benefit society, medicine, and technology.