Ganzfeld Immersion Experience

1 to 3 participants [at a time] are invited to lounge on the wooden structure, where they are provided with goggles and over-ear headphones to isolate them from external stimuli. The lenses of each pair of goggles are frosted to evenly diffuse incoming light, while a [red, blue, or green]filter [ that is installed over each pair of lenses] creates a monochromatic environment inside the goggles. Each pair of headphones plays an audio loop based on a sustained square, triangle, or sine wave that vary in frequency between the left channel and right channel. The goggles create a neutral visual field that dramatically limits the visual information reaching the visual center of the brain. As time passes the repetitive information is eventually edited out, leaving behind sensory “noise” that naturally occurs as the optic nerve transmits information to the brain. In the absence of other information the “noise” is perceived by the brain as visual information, leading to visual hallucinations of varying degrees. This piece merges meditation and virtual reality by subverting the neurological relationship between the eyes and the brain. While the binaural resonance created by the audio loops induces a relaxation response that completes the immersive aspect of the experience. When the viewer removes the goggles their eyes are sensitized to the complementary color of their particular lens. While they experience auditory artifacts created by the absence of the sustained tones, once the headphones are removed. this enhanced awareness makes the environment around them more conspicuous until they adapt to the ambient conditions once again.