What are cyberdelics?
The art of revealing and navigating the mind.
Cyberdelics are experiences that use technology, such as virtual reality, sound, light, biofeedback and immersive art, to open, deepen and integrate non-ordinary states of mind. Where psychedelics work through a substance, cyberdelics work through design: what you see, hear, feel and do.
Cyber
From the Greek kubernetikos
to steer, to navigate
Delic
From the Greek dēlos
to reveal, to make visible
What they look like
Many mediums, one intention.
Virtual reality journeys
Worlds you step inside, designed to shift perception, awe and presence.
Immersive installations
Rooms and artworks that surround the body with light, image and sound.
Sound and light
Rhythmic light, binaural sound and music shaped to move attention and state.
Biofeedback
Experiences driven by your breath, voice, heart or brain, that respond as you change.
Shared experiences
Multi-person virtual worlds and gatherings where the experience happens together.
Practice and integration
Tools that help carry an insight into daily life, so a state can become a trait.
Questions
What people ask about cyberdelics.
01What does “cyberdelic” mean?
The word joins cyber, from the Greek kubernetikos (to steer, to navigate), and delic, from dēlos (to reveal, to make visible). A cyberdelic experience reveals something about the mind, and helps you navigate it.
02Where does the word come from?
It emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in the culture around magazines like Mondo 2000, Timothy Leary and the first virtual reality pioneers, to describe where computers and psychedelic culture met. After a quiet decade, it returned in the 2010s with consumer virtual reality and a new wave of consciousness research.
03How are cyberdelics different from psychedelics?
Psychedelics are substances. Cyberdelics use technology and design instead, with no substance involved. They can be explored on their own, and some are also being designed and studied to help people prepare for or integrate psychedelic experiences.
04What is a technodelic?
A close cousin of the word. Robin Arnott made it known in 2020 with SoundSelf, a meditative journey driven by the player's own voice, and the Technodelic Manifesto: experiences designed with psychedelic intent, run by the body's own feedback.
05Is there research on cyberdelics?
Yes, and it is growing, though still early. In 2017 neuroscientists used virtual reality and deep-dream imagery to study altered perception without a drug. In 2022 a multi-person virtual reality experience, Isness-D, scored on four measures of connectedness in a similar range to a medium dose of psychedelics in a published study. Findings like these are promising and preliminary.
The Hallucination MachineThe Isness-D studyThe knowledge bank
06Are cyberdelic experiences safe?
They involve no substance, but they are not without risk. Flashing light can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy, virtual reality can cause motion sickness, and strong emotions can surface. Good design takes care: screening, clear consent, a way out at any moment and support afterwards. Our Code of Ethics sets out how we approach it.
07What does “from states to traits” mean?
An altered state is temporary: a peak experience that fades. An altered trait is a lasting change in how you perceive, feel and act. Reaching a state is easy; carrying it into daily life is not. The Cyberdelic Dojo is being built for that second part, through practice.
08Where can I try one?
Browse the catalogue of experiences, many of which you can try at home with a headset or headphones, or come to a Cyberdelic Showcase, where curated experiences are set up and guided in person.