Thread by @anilkseth

1/🧵 Do you what I see? Today we launch #ThePerceptionCensus, part of @Drea_m_achine, and one of the largest citizen science studies on human perception ever undertaken. Check out this video, and discover more (and sign up) here: perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world

2/ It may seem to us that we experience the world ‘as it is’, but in fact we each inhabit a unique, personalised ‘inner universe’. Just as we all differ on the outside, we all differ on the inside too.

3/ Sometimes, these differences are very clear. Remember #TheDress? Half the world saw it as blue-and-black, while the other half saw it as white-and-gold. (It really was blue-and-black, honest).

4/ But our perceptual experiences differ everywhere, all the time. Do you see the same blue sky that I see? (h/t @missSukiChan) Maybe – but maybe not. Because we often use the same words to describe things, the perceptual diversity among us has remained largely hidden from view.

5/ Until now! #ThePerceptionCensus is an ambitious new citizen science study developed to map out, for the first time, the unique ways in which we each experience the world. I explain more about in this short video:

6/ By taking part, you’ll be invited to complete a series of fun, interactive and engaging tasks, exploring themes such as colour, illusion, time, sound and music, and more.

7/ The full study involves ten different sections, each exploring different aspects of perception and its diversity among us. Today we are launching the core section – The Fundamentals of Perception – along with three others …

8/ … Sound and Music, Body and Belief, and Time. Further sections of the Census will be released during the summer, covering many other topics, such as how our brain’s expectations influence what we perceive.

9/ Every response we get is hugely valuable. And the more sections you finish, the more we’ll discover, together, about the fascinating diversity of our minds. (Note the Census is for 18+, check out #LifesBigQuestions lbq.dreamachine.world if you're younger!)

10/ Each section of the Census takes no more than 20 minutes (usually less), and you’ll learn a great deal about your own powers of perception along the way. All you need is your own desktop/laptop device, and just a little bit of time.

11/ With your help, we’re anticipating this will be the largest study of its kind ever undertaken. If enough people take part, we will transform our understanding of how and why we each experience the world differently.

12/ Why is this important? There are many reasons. But perhaps the most significant is that by understanding how and why we each experience things differently, we can help create empathy, and build stronger connections, between all of us.

13/ So please, sign up today, have a go, and share #ThePerceptionCensus with as many people as you can. perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world

14/ If you've been to the @Drea_m_achine live immersive experience in person, then we'd be particularly pleased if you join @ThePerceptionCensus too - but *all* responses are valuable, whether you've been to @Drea_m_achine or not.

15/ #ThePerceptionCensus was created by the @Drea_m_achine team (@unboxed2022), led by myself @SussexUni and Fiona Macpherson @ProfMacpherson @UofGlasgow, with the hard work done by @RenyBaykova, David Schwartzman, Trevor Hewitt, James Alvarez (all @SussexUni) ...

16/ ... together with @lydia_entwistle, @DevrajJoshi, Jennifer Crook (Collective Act), Blu Towers, and many more collaborators in the UK and around the world. Many 🙏🏽🙏🏽 to all - and to *you* for taking part! perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world

/🧵 Finally, don’t forget, you can dive right into the incredible power of your own mind at the @Drea_m_achine itself, open in London until July 24, in Belfast from July 25 and then in Edinburgh from Aug 13 dreamachine.world

/🧵+1 - whoops, the first tweet didn't have the video - it appeared later in the thread. Sorry about that! Here it is again, for good measure