Hack the Senses! (360G-Wellcome-201037_Z_16_Z)

'Hack the Senses!' will engage the public with the science of perception in an innovative, hands-on manner. Following a series of inspiring talks and workshops we will organize a weekend hackathon that will open up the world of sensory substitution and augmentation to explore how we can broaden our perceptual universe. We seek to bring together people from a variety of backgrounds and provide them with the space, facilities and tools to prototype new ideas that enhance, expand and augment the senses. Participants will be inspired by examples from the animal kingdom and work with microcomputers, sensors, and virtual and augmented reality devices to realise their projects. The results of the hackathon will provide that basis for a string of engagement activities. Beyond featuring the 'Hack the Senses!' project at various science-themed events, we are also developing our own gamified dissemination activity. 'SuperSensEscape' is modelled on the escape-game genre and allows players to experience how different sensory apparatuses constrain or expand one's perception of reality. Staged in a retro sci-fi world the game will challenge players with increasingly difficult puzzles that can only be solved with recourse to the extended sensory capacities provided by the devices from our hackathon.