ILLUSIONS: IS REALITY A CONSTRUCTION?
Reinventing Reality
UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall and Science Centers Across North America
7,000 sq. ft. Virtual Science Center Traveling Exhibition
15 cities | 3M visitors
I adapted, conceived, and developed robust multi-sensory illusions (check out "Long Arm" too) for public interaction, offering visitors a chance to explore how our brains construct our subjective "reality." Such illusions, typically studied in academic settings, reveal how our perceptions can differ significantly from the actual world. Virtual Reality (VR) effectively uses this kind of perceptual trickery. Both in VR and in everyday life, our brains create our experience of reality from a surprisingly limited set of sensory cues. VR designers study and manipulate these cues to craft the illusion of an alternate reality within our minds.
In the Educator’s Guide, I emphasize that being "fooled" by these illusions actually highlights the sophistication of our perceptual system. We evolved to navigate and survive in a complex world. For instance, if our brains and eyes didn't use context when perceiving shades of gray (as demonstrated in the second video), we wouldn't be able to detect the edges of objects, which is crucial for avoiding obstacles like trees and doorways. These illusions show that our perception is not about accurately replicating the world but about interpreting sensory information in a way that best aids our survival.
Interaction Design & Curation: Bill Meyer
Trompe L'oeil Project: Heather Birchall
Exhibition Design: Quatrefoil
Fabricator: Group Delphi
