The Vision Machine is a mixed reality performance. 

Based on the successful virtual reality (VR) performance Awkward Consequence (premièred in Hong Kong in May 2016), designed to be experienced by many simultaneous participants, The Vision Machine continues the exploration of the limits of VR, proposing using a VR experience as performative input. The title references a book by Paul Virilio, which starts with a quotation of Jean François Marmontel: “The Art requires Witnesses”. The Vision Machine explores this idea by creating a public performance from a single witness of the VR world. 

In The Vision Machine, we use a EEG–based brain–computer interface to capture the brain activity of a a single VR participant experiencing a new version of Awkward Consequence. This information is fed in real–time to a custom system that collaborates with the performers, generating an audiovisual journey to be experience by the audience. 

The Vision Machine is an artistic experiment using a brain’s reaction to a VR experience as a new type of live performer. It is the latest work of Christian Clark, Tobias Klein, and Tomás Laurenzo.