Programmable synthetic hallucinations : towards a boundless mixed reality

Programmable Synthetic Hallucinations describe the utilization of the bio-physiological mechanics of hallucination generated in the human brain to display virtual information directly in the visual field. Science fiction films, television shows, and video games have trained audiences to think of holograms as luminous volumetric images that float registered in the viewer's 3D space and require no special glasses or optics to see or interact with them. The ability of users to interact with a floating aerial lightfield without the use of face-worn binocular optics is a difficult challenge and one in which a hallucinatory experience offers a solution. While we do not have the ability to activate individual neurons to recreate an neuro-electrical pattern indiscernible from the perception of reality, this dissertation shows that creating phosphenes within the visual field via the magnetic stimulation of neurons in the visual cortex is a viable first step.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Novy, Daniel E.(Daniel Edward)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• V. Michael Bove, Jr.

• Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123629

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123629