Manipulating Perception

Maurice Merleau-Ponty observed that consciousness exists in the world and experience of things in the world exist in consciousness. We similarly believe that the physiological foundations of perception exist in the world and can be acted upon. As way of argument, we describe the experience of several devices that manipulate the precepts. Such devices act on consciousness but also the set of things that can be experienced. The manipulation of perception allows variations of individual experience. Human experience can be mapped to analogs of animal experience. Dennett has looked to neuroscience as a source of grounding for accounts of the mind. However, the brain is just one element of experience. When my knee is hit suddenly, my spinal cord acts before I become cognisant of the blow. Physiologists have mapped a somatic nervous system which encompasses the perceptual circuits from the nerve endings, to receptors, toward nerve bundles, onward to the brain, and back toward muscles. The underlying physiological objects (in the somatic system) are the physical corollaries to perception. By building devices which act upon the somatic system, it is possible to act on phenomena such as sense of balance, reflexes, and proprioception. Galvano-vestibular stimulation systems can manipulate the sense of balance such that a person feels as if they cannot control the direction of their movement. Sirens, bright flashes and other startling phenomena such as vibrations on the skin can unconsciously divert attention. A wearable computing system called Haptic Radar allows those who use it to feel distant objects on the surface of their skin.