Living in a Dream: A visual exploration of the self in dreams using AI technology

Join us to find out more about dreaming, depersonalisation, AI, our sense of ‘self’, and to immerse yourselves in another world!

Interdisciplinary exhibit co-created by scientists and artists from ARU. The exhibit has arisen from the Living in a Dream project, funded by the Bial Foundation, which investigates how our sense of ‘self’ is experienced during dreams, and how it can be impacted by disturbances to our sense of self during waking. The exhibit draws on almost a thousand dream reports collected as part of a recent research study, the first of its kind to look at the experience of dreams for people experiencing depersonalisation symptoms. People who experience depersonalisation often report feeling as though they are not real and that their body does not belong to them. A variety of artwork based on the dream reports will be presented, drawing on traditional media as well as some of the latest visual technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR).

Event facilitated by:

Matt Gwyther, Researcher in the Self & Body lab (Headed by cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jane Aspell) at Anglia Ruskin University. The lab’s research considers questions such as: What is a Self? What is the relation between the physical self - the body - and the mental self?

With participation by students from the MA Visual Communication course led by Dr. Nanette Hoogslag.