Dr. Brainlove: Interactive Neuroscience Vehicle

In this session, we will describe the making of Dr. Brainlove, a mobile neuroscience exhibit that interactively displays models of brain activity on a giant (27'x19'x15') climbable brain. After its debut at Burning Man 2014, Dr. Brainlove will travel to science festivals in the Bay Area. The steel mesh brain of Dr. Brainlove is covered in programmable LEDs connected with fiber optic cables that simulate real neural activity and respond interactively to visual, auditory, and EEG inputs. Dr. Brainlove was created by the Phage, a diverse consortium of scientists, engineers, and artists dedicated to science outreach at Burning Man. All the work involved in making Dr. Brainlove was done on a volunteer basis: project management, structural construction, lighting and input processing, sound system, fundraising, marketing, training, and operations. We will describe how the community of diverse experts came together to plan and deliver Dr. Brainlove.