Sydney Science Festival: A Night of Illusions

Baffle your senses with an evening of tactile and visual illusions. Watch static images move and twist before your very own eyes. Feel your body change size and shape. Confuse your brain as you step into a realm that challenges your assumptions and messes with your perception. You will never see the world the same again.

"Have a glass of wine while experiencing a third arm".

The evening will feature a number of interactive demonstrations from many talented scientists including:

Dr Astrid Zeman, computational neuroscientist, who has received international media coverage on her work with illusions in artificial brains.

Dr Tatjana Seizova-Cajic has dedicated many years to the study of human perception - vision, proprioception and touch. She runs a laboratory at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney.

Dr. Lee Walsh, neurophysiologist and developer of the moving rubber finger illusion, is expert at creating illusions of limb movement and body ownership.

Dr Susan Wardle, visual neuroscientist at Macquarie University, looks at how the human brain creates our visual experience of the world.

Kim Ransley, PhD Candidate at the University of Sydney, researches spatial attention in the reading process.

Dr Sarah McIntyre, sensory neuroscientist, specialises in touch and body senses and will be demonstrating tactile illusions, which reveal how the brain takes short-cuts to make sense of the world.

Erika Contini, PhD (Neuropsychology) Candidate at Macquarie University who evaluates brain patterns associated with seeing and recognising objects.

Dr Vince Polito studies cognitive control in altered states of consciousness such as hypnosis, flow and virtual reality.