Phantom Physicalizations Reinterpreting Dreams Through Physical Representation

Abstract: This thesis begins with a philosophical question: What if we could amplify our waking experience with the aesthetic qualitiesof dreams? Through a discourse on experiential dream related aspects in philosophy, design and daily life it examines what itmeans, and has meant, to dream, and how these qualities already permeate the physical world. I hypothesize that objects capable of representing dream related physiological data as physical output have the potential to amplify our waking experience. To formulate a set of considerations for the design of such objects, an ethnographic study of dream experience, comprising a survey, a cultural probe study and interviews, has been conducted. The text concludes by exploring how dream elements like ambiguity, synesthetic sensibility, and affective self-exploration may benefit interaction design, raising questions about how digital media can facilitate personal, meaningful experiences.