PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
The Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience is committed to advancing the public understanding of philosophy by communicating our research to a public audience.
We maintain The Illusions Index - a fully searchable interactive curated collection of illusions.
And we host the award-winning online art exhibition Extreme Imagination: Inside the Mind's Eye.
Fiona Macpherson is one of the project members that brought the astonishing Dreamachine project to life May 2022 - present. This is a new, one-of-a-kind immersive experience created by Collective Act, in collaboration with Turner Prize-winning artists Assemble, Grammy and Mercury nominated composer Jon Hopkins, and a team of leading technologists, scientists and philosophers. Dreamachine invites you on a magical journey to explore the extraordinary potential of your mind. Conjured entirely by light and music, the colourful world of the Dreamachine will unfold behind your closed eyes – created by your own brain and completely unique to you. The experience received a 5* rating in the Guardian. Part of the project involved developing The Perception Census a large online citizen science project to study the diversity of perception, which is on-going, and which we would encourage everyone to take part in. Through a variety of interactive tasks, puzzles and illusions, you can learn about your own perception and that of others, and contribute to our research. A third part of the programme involved a large schools educational programme. The project won the 2023 CogX award for Best Innivation in Creative Arts and the 2023 Lumen Prize for Immersive Environment.
You might also like to visit the Twist Museum - a museum of illusion in Oxford Street in London. Fiona Macpherson is the principal academic consultant for the museum.
More generally, researchers at the Centre participate in a variety of public engagement and knowledge exchange activities including public lectures, science festivals, articles and interviews for popular media, social media platforms. Details are below.
We welcome opportunities for future collaboration. We are available to comment on a wide range of issues relating to the science and philosophy of perception and mind. And we are happy to provide interesting demonstrations of perceptual effects suitable for people aged 7 - 70, or public lectures, at an event you organise. If you would like to know more then please get in touch!
Public activities and events
| Date | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| May 2022 - present |
The Perception Census - one of the largest citizen science studies on perceptual diversity ever undertaken, brough to you by the CSPE at the University of Glasgow and neuroscientists at the University of Sussex. Please take part! Your participation will help shed light on the different ways we perceive the world. Thank you. |
Online: https://perceptioncensus.dreamachine.world/ |
| May - September 2022 | Dreamachine - Explore the extraordinary potential of your own mind | London (May 9 - July 24, Woolwich Public Market), Cardiff (May12 - June 18, Temple of Peace), Belfast (July 25 –September 04, Carlisle Memorial Church) and Edinburgh (August 13 – September 25, Murrayfield Ice Rink) |
| 18 May 2022 | Dreamachine Schools is a major UK wide programme, developed by A New Direction in partnership with the British Science Association and UNICEF UK, on which Fiona Macpherson is a consultant. Today, we launch Life's Big Questions. |
Online: https://lbq.dreamachine.world/ |
| 7 - 10pm, 10th May 2022 | Do You See What I See? - Derek Brown speaks on 'Mixed Reality and Illusion' as part of the Pint of Science Festival | The Bungo Bar and Kitchen, Glasgow |
| 7 - 8pm, 18 November 2021 | Perceptual Illusion Cafe - online presentation of illusions and discussion with public | Zoom |
| 7 - 8pm, 23 November 2020 | Explorathon 2020 - online presentation of illusions and discussion with public. | Zoom |
| 7 - 8pm, 18 November 2020 | Perceptual Illusion Cafe - online presentation of illusions and discussion with public. | Zoom |
| 11 August 2020 | Launch of Illusions Index Quiz - completion of which gives you a University of Glasgow 'Master of Illusion' certificate | Illusions Index Website |
| 24 April 2020 | Launch of Extreme Imagination online exhibition | CSPE website |
| 27-28 September 2019 | Explorathon 2019 - research stall | Riverside Museum, Glasgow |
| 8-9 June 2019 | Glasgow Science Festival 2019 - research stall | Riverside Museum, Glasgow |
| 5-7 April 2019 | Extreme Imagination Confererence 2019 | Univeristy of Exeter |
| 30 March - 2 June 2019 | Extreme Imagination: Inside the mind's eye - Exhibition 2019 | Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter |
| 11 January - 3 March 2019 | Extreme Imagination: Inside the mind's eye - Exhibition 2019 | Tramway, Glasgow |
| 29 September 2018 | Explorathon 2018 | Riverside Museum, Glasgow |
| 15-16 June 2018 | Glasgow Science Festival 2018 - research stall | St Enoch Centre, Glasgow |
| 29 September, 2017 | Explorathon 2017- research stall | Glasgow, The Riverside Museum |
| 18 June 2017 | Glasgow Science Festival 2017- research stall | University of Glasgow, Kelvin Gallery |
| 6 - 11 June 2017 | Cheltenham Science Festival 2017- research stall | Bath Road, Cheltenham |
| 5 May 2017 | Glasgow Science Centre Lates- research stall | Glasgow Science Centre |
| 29 April 2017 | Question of Perception Celebration Event- research stall | Glasgow Science Centre |
| 30 September 2016 | European Researchers’ Night: Explorathon ’16 | Glasgow Science Centre |
| 7 July 2016 | Understanding the Senses: Past & Present Project Public Lecture and Poetry Reading by Dr. Nuala Watt (University of Glasgow) (40 attendees) | The Gilchrist Club, University of Glasgow |
| 6 July 2016 | Understanding the Senses: Past & Present workshop reception and manuscript exhibition | University of Glasgow Library |
| 17 June 2016 | Beer: History, Philosophy, and Science | Gilchrist Club, University of Glasgow |
| 11–12 June 2016 |
Glasgow Science Festival 2016- research stall |
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
| 26 March 2016 | Theatre performance: Michael Brady, ‘Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring.’ | Old Granada Studios, Manchester |
| March 2016 | Discussion panel: Michael Brady, ‘On the Couch’ and ‘SICK! Lab 2016’ | SICK! Festival, Manchester |
| November 2015 | Keynote lecture: Fiona Macpherson, ‘Illusion and Perception’, at the Hutchesons’ Annual Approaching Philosophy Conference for school children (170 attendees) | Hutchesons’ Grammar School, Glasgow |
| 28 Sept–29 Nov 2015 | Keith Wilson and Fiona Macpherson contributed an ‘Impossible Lego object’ to the Objects of Research exhibition | Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow |
| 25 September 2015 | European Researchers’ Night: Explorathon ’15 | Glasgow Science Centre |
| 8 June 2015 | Public lecture: Fiona Macpherson, ‘Vision, Perception and Illusion’, with Colin Blakemore at the Glasgow Science Festival (200 attendees) | University of Glasgow |
| 7 June 2015 | Public lecture: Michael Brady, ‘The Value of Suffering’ at the Glasgow Science Festival | University of Glasgow |
| 6–8 June 2015 | CSPE at the Glasgow Science Festival | Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum |
| 4 June 2015 | Public talk: Keith Wilson, introduction to outdoor screening of The Matrix and interview on philosophy and science-fiction at the Glasgow Science Festival | University of Glasgow |
| 19 March 2015 | Public talks: Jennifer Corns, Fiona Macpherson, Keith Wilson – Late Night Science: Illusion and Perception | The Research Club, Ashton Lane, Glasgow |
| 6 March 2015 | Public lecture: Michael Brady, ‘Why is Suffering Valuable?’ | University of Glasgow |
| December 2014 | Talk to Eye Surgeons: Fiona Macpherson, ‘Philosophy of Hallucination and Perception’ | King’s College Hospital, London |
| 21 November 2014 | The Hidden Senses: the secrets of taste and smell, part of the Rethinking the Senses project | The Dana Centre, London |
| 16 November, 2014 | PUblic lecture: Michael Brady, "The Philosophy of Pain and Suffering" | Glad Cafe, Glasgow |
| October 2014 | Public lecture: Fiona Macpherson, ‘Philosophy of Hallucination and Perception’, lunchtime masterclass series | Centre for Open Studies, University of Glasgow |
| 26 September 2014 | European Researchers’ Night: Explorathon ’14 | Glasgow Science Centre |
| June 2014 | Public lecture: Fiona Macpherson, ‘Philosophical Views of Hallucination and Perception’, at the Out of Our Heads art exhibition on hallucination | Shoreditch Town Hall, London |
| May 2014 | Keynote speaker: Fiona Macpherson, ‘Individuating the Senses’, The Human Senses: Inspire Gatherings | School of Music and Fine Art, University of Kent |
| April 2014 | Speaker: Fiona Macpherson, at Conversations in Mind/Brain/Behaviour interfaculty event, debating with Professor Robert Stickgold (Harvard) | Harvard University |
| December 2013 | Discussion leader: Fiona Macpherson, Data, Dada, Data: the Next Big Confluence of Art, Science and Technology workshop organised by UCLIC, UCL | Cumberland Lodge |
| July 2013 | Public lecture: Fiona Macpherson, ‘How Many Colours Are in the Rainbow? Lessons from the Variability of Perception’ | University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia |
| November 2012 | Discussion leader: Fiona Macpherson, Creative Dining, Cooking and Technology workshop, organised by UCLIC, UCL | John Salt Restaurant, Islington |
| March 2012 | Public exhibition and conference: Sensory Substitution and Augmentation [video] | British Academy, London |
| November 2011 | Michael Brady, philosophical advisor for two theatre productions with Manchester-based theatre group Quarantine | Quarantine Theatre Group |
| May 2011 | Public lecture and wine tasting: Fiona Macpherson (organiser), ‘On the Blind Versus Sighted Tasting of Wine’ with Professor Barry Smith (London) and Professor Charles Spence (Oxford) | University of Glasgow |
Radio, TV and Podcasts
| Date | Details | Media |
|---|---|---|
| 12 October 2023 |
Interviewed about perceptual diversity and The Perception Census on BBC Radio 4, Inside Science, 12 October 2023, |
BBC Radio 4 |
| August 2023 |
Published advertorial to promote The Perception Census, “Which has a bigger tail: a squirrel or a rabbit?” in New Scientist, August 2023, |
New Scientist |
| 22 July 2023 |
Fiona Macpherson was interviewed about psychological and perceptual differences for the cover story, “How Are You Thinking?”, New Scientist, published 22 July 2023: 32-35. |
New Scientist |
| 10 January 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson was interviewed about aphantasia for the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry’, Series 21, ‘The Case of the Blind Mind's Eye’, broadcast 10th January 2023. |
BBC Radio 4 programme ‘The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry' |
| 9 December 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is guest on the “Philosophy Takes On The News” Podcast, Series 2, Episode 8, end of year special on constitutional reforms, crypto and effective Altruism, end of year round-up, plus hopes and fears for 2023. |
"Philosophy Takes On The News" Podcast |
| 10 November 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is a guest on the “Philosophy Takes On The News” Podcast, Series 2, Episode 6, 10th November 2022, special episode on the 2022 US mid-term elections with a run-through of the results plus discussion of democracy, trust, compromise, Trump, information, and media. |
"Philosophy Takes On The News" Podcast |
| 13 October 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is guest on the “Philosophy Takes On The News” Podcast, Series 2, Episode 4, discussing the absolute state of UK politics and artificial intelligence. |
"Philosophy Takes On The News" Podcast |
| 11 August 2022 |
Interviewed for RTE: Ireland’s National Public Service Radio for the programme, ‘The Science of Sense’, Episode 6 on 'Conscoiusness: Do we have more than 5 senses?' on 18 March 2022, programme broadcast 11 August 2022 |
RTE: Ireland’s National Public Service Radio |
| 24 July 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is guest on BBC Radio Ulster radio programme Sunday Sequence 24th July 2022 discussing the Dreamachine project. |
BBC Radio Ulster |
| 19 July 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is interviewed on NewsTalk's FutureProof talking about the Dreamachine project. |
NewTalks Radio |
| 9 June 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson appears as a guest on the podcast 'Philosophy Takes On The News' in Series 1, Episode 14, discussing the vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson, the Jubilee and values, and food policy. |
"Philosophy Takes On The News" Podcast |
| 11 May 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is interviewed on the ‘All in the Mind’ programme about the Dreamachine. |
Radio 4 |
| 5 May 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is guest on Series 1, Episode 10, discussing Roe v. Wade, elections and voting, and living with covid. |
“Philosophy Takes On The News” Podcast |
| 24 March 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson is guest on Series 1, Episode 6, discussing duties to others, climate change and energy, and beers in the metaverse. |
“Philosophy Takes On The News” Podcast |
| 21 June 2021 |
Fiona Macpheson interviewed as expert on aphantasia and hyperphantasia |
Canadian podcast ‘Imagine that’, June 2021 |
| 28 January 2021 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed as expert on hallucination for the documentary film, “The Islanders Who Saw Visions”, January 2021. |
BBC Reel, 17 May 2021 |
| 11 July 2019 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed by Lindsay McDougall about virtual reality and the Mobius Project
|
DriveTime, ABC Illawarra Radio, Australia |
| 6 April 2019 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed about her work on aphantasia and the Eye’s Mind’s conference on Extremes of Imagination on the BBC World Service ‘Newshour’ programme |
'Newshour' on the BBC World Service |
| 7 December 2017 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed by Tom Metcalfe on augmented reality |
NBC Mach |
| 15 May 2017 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed by Nicola Twilley for an article on "Seeing with Your Tongue" |
The New Yorker |
| 3 March 2017 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed by Jeff Gailus for piece entitled "We Should Count Balance As One of the Senses" |
Nautilus science magazine |
| December 2016 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed by Timandra Harkeness for a Blakeway Production programme for Radio 4 on sensory substitution and augmentation, to be broadcast in 2017. |
BBC Radio 4 |
| 2 June 2016 | Radio Interview: David Bain, Michael Brady, and Jennifer Corns, "The pleasure-pain paradox" | ABC Radio, Australia |
| Spring 2016 |
Fiona Macpherson interviewed for an article on her and her work by Emma Shephard. |
Spring 2016 PhilonoUS, the University of Sheffield Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy |
| 7 February 2015 | Fiona Macpherson interviewed for ‘An Image of Sound’ | BBC Radio 4 |
| 15 January 2015 | ‘Top PI Fiona Macpherson: Making Small Grants Count’ | Research Professional |
| 7 December 2014 | Fiona Macpherson co-hosted CBC’s Spark programme about ‘Rewiring our Senses’ (Programme no. 268) | CBC |
| 3 March 2013 | Fiona Macpherson in Philosophy Bites podcast on Hallucination | Philosophy Bites |
| January 2010 | Radio interview: David Bain on God and the problem of evil | Colourful Radio |
| January 2009 | Radio interview: David Bain on is it wrong to kill for organs? [audio download] | Kerrang Radio |
| February 2008 | David Bain interviewed on McCauley & Co. | BBC Scotland |
Public articles
| Date | Details | Media |
|---|---|---|
| 22 July 2023 | Fiona Macpherson interviewed about psychological and perceptual differences for the cover story, “How Are You Thinking?”. | New Scientist magazine |
| 11 December 2022 | Fiona Macpherson was interviewed by The Sunday Post newspaper for Sunday Post article on aphantasia - the reduced ability to form mental imagery | The Sunday Post Newspaper |
| 1 December 2022 | Neil McDonnell's article, “Enhanced Learning: Into the Metaverse” is published in ReSourcE, the magazine of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. |
RSE ReSourcE magazine |
| 1 December 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson published article, “Perceptual Diversity: Do You See What I See” for ReSourcE, the magazine of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and an accompanying blog post. |
RSE ReSourcE magazine |
| 16 June 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson was interviewed by Harry Pettit, Deputy Technology and Science Editor for the Sun newspaper on optical illusions for an article, “Fame Game: You’re in the top 1% if you can spot the hidden celeb in this optical illusion – & there’s a clue to help” |
The Sun Newspaper |
| 11 June 2017 |
Guest blog post: Jennifer Corns, ‘Why Pain is Not a Natural Kind’ |
History of Emotions Blog |
| 13 January 2016 | Article: David Bain, ‘When Pain Isn’t Painful’ | The Philosophers’ Magazine |
| 3 August 2015 | Guest blog post: Jennifer Corns, ‘Problems with Placebos’ | iCog Blog |
| 22 June 2015 | Guest blog post: Keith Wilson, ‘Engaging the Senses at the Glasgow Science Festival’ | AHRC Science in Culture Blog |
| 15 January 2015 | ‘Top PI Fiona Macpherson: Making Small Grants Count’ | Research Professional |
| 23 December 2014 | Guest blog post: Keith Wilson, ‘Taste and Smell: the hidden senses’ | Being Human |
| 2 October 2013 | German newspaper article on Fiona Macpherson and Dimitris Platchias’s Hallucination volume | Der Tagesspiegel |
| September 2013 | Article: Keith Wilson, ‘Perception and Reality’ | New Philosopher magazine |
| Autumn 2012 | Fiona Macpherson interviewed about her work on perception and the senses in ‘A Shift in Perception’, by Cynthia Macdonald | University of Toronto Magazine |
| November 2012 | Blog post: Fiona Macpherson, ‘The Future of Dining Practices’, which in part records the Creative Dining, Cooking and Technology workshop held at the John Salt Restaurant in Islington (see above) | Food for Thought: Thought for Food |
| August 2012 | Fiona Macpherson interviewed for ‘Philosophy gender war sparked by call for larger role for women’, by Kathryn Blaze Carlson | National Post Newspaper |
| January 2010 | Article: David Bain, ‘Why does God allow natural disasters?’ | BBC Magazine |
| May–July 2009 | Articles: David Bain’s Brain Strain | BBC Magazine |
| November 2008 | Article: David Bain, ‘Four philosophical questions to make your brain hurt’ | BBC Magazine |
| Spring 2008 | Article: David Bain, ‘Why philosophy should be taught in schools’ | Breaktime Magazine |
Knowledge exchange
| Date | Details | Partner |
|---|---|---|
| January 2022 - present |
Fiona Macpherson is principal academic consultant for the Twist Museum from its inception to opening. She developed a strategy for displaying different types of illusion, suggested individual illusions to include, and explained and wrote about the nature of illusions for the designers. I also wrote the text displayed beside the illusions in the museum that explains their nature and the philosophy and science behind them. |
Twist Museum, London |
| 31 August 2021 |
Invited talk ‘What is Synaesthesia?’ by Fiona Macpherson, to cast and crew of the play “When Blue was Green”. |
Beacon Arts Centre and Dundee Rep, funded by Creative Scotland |
| 2018 - 2022 |
Fiona Macpherson and Neil McDonnell were awarded an Innovate UK grant of £716,743 as part Project Mobius (project cost £911,713). Working with company Sublime, later Edify, they developed VR and VR-by-proxy teaching for higher education. |
Sublime and Edify |
| 2017 - 2019 |
Fiona Macpherson was consultant to Cupboard Games, a small independent computer games firm She shared her knowledge on perception, the sensory modalities, and sensory substitution and augmentation to help them design games such as ‘Umwelt’. Cupboard Games and the University of Glasgow signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2017 to facilitate our connection. |
Cupboard Games |
| 30 May 2017 |
VR Knowledge Exchange Workshop: Exploring how cutting-edge research can inform cutting-edge VR |
Soluis |