Multi-Sensory Cosmology

Multi-Sensory Cosmology

(In collaboration with computer-human interaction expert Prof Marianna Obrist and her team at SCHI Lab at the University of Sussex)

Much of our scientific knowledge is transmitted via intellectual means, based on abstract concepts and gained through reading and other mostly visual means. This modality of transmission can be hard to engage with on a dialogic basis, as well as on a more emotional level. This is especially true of astrophysics, where we are often dealing with ideas so far removed from the human scale that they are often hard to imagine. Grounding facts and abstract ideas in bodily experience becomes a helpful way of creating meaning and widening participation, especially amongst non-expert and under-served audiences.

We aim to design and deliver two novel multi-sensory immersive experiences, by using insights from research into multi-sensory perception and human-machine interaction in collaboration with Prof Obrist from U of Sussex.

We delivered a first pilot event at the London Science Museum Lates in Oct 2018. The video below gives you a flavour of how the “Dark Matter Multi-Sensory Experience” was received by the public.