# Mesmer Prism | Till Holzapfel

Source: https://mesmerprism.com/
Canonical HTML: https://mesmerprism.com/
Generated: 2026-05-26
Description: XR systems, citizen-science tools, visual instruments, and essays for altered-perception design. Mesmer Prism makes strange experience vivid, inspectable, and evidence-bounded.
Markdown: https://mesmerprism.com/index.md
Plain text: https://mesmerprism.com/index.txt
BibTeX references: https://mesmerprism.com/index.bib
CSL JSON references: https://mesmerprism.com/index.references.csl.json

---

Till Holzapfel

# Mesmer Prism

 Mesmer Prism is Till Holzapfel's public interface for
 altered-perception design: XR systems, citizen-science tools, visual
 instruments, and essays that make breath, light, imagery, and body
 boundaries inspectable. The design philosophy is bounded transformation:
 let experience change, but keep agency, apparatus, variables, sources,
 and limits visible.

 Start with live systems, perception tools, embodiment essays, research maps,
 or publications.

 [Enter the work](https://mesmerprism.com/#work)
 [Publications](https://mesmerprism.com/#publications)
 [Contact](https://mesmerprism.com/#contact)

 Projects

## Choose a route

 Systems, tools, essays, and references sit together here so the reader can
 move by use, topic, or artifact.

### Use or inspect a system

### Work with tools and instruments

### Read a research map

### Public record and contact

 Across the work: tune the condition, preserve agency, record what changed, and
 keep mechanisms and claims separate.

 XR research system

### [Viscereality](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/viscereality.html)

 A Quest-based bioresponsive VR research system. The participant runtime
 links breath, cardiac rhythm, oscillator visuals, and visual state changes;
 the operator side handles launch, monitoring, study-shell control, and
 session evidence.

 Status
 Active research collaboration
 Artifact
 Quest runtime + Windows operator workflow
 Record
 Public overview + proceedings papers

 XR / Biofeedback / Quest / Operator tooling / Research

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/viscereality.html)
 [Project site](https://viscereality.org/)
 [Quest companion tools](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/viscereality-companion.html)
 [Docs & downloads](https://mesmerprism.github.io/ViscerealityCompanion/)

 Meta Quest operator tooling

### [Quest Companion Tools](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/viscereality-companion.html)

 Windows and Android utilities for operating Meta Quest research builds from
 outside the headset: install, launch, cast, monitor, capture proof, and
 export diagnostics without rebuilding the same operator workflow for every
 project.

 Status
 Active tooling
 Artifact
 Windows companion app + Android experiments
 Role
 Developer and workflow maintainer

 Quest / Windows app / Android companion / ADB / Diagnostics

 [Tooling overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/viscereality-companion.html)
 [Current repo](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Rusty-XR-Companion-Apps)
 [Earlier docs](https://mesmerprism.github.io/ViscerealityCompanion/)

 Rust for XR and Quest experiments

### [Rusty XR](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/rusty-xr.html)

 A public Rust workspace for reusable XR contracts, schemas, diagnostics,
 Quest examples, broker models, camera and depth utilities, hand and
 particle primitives, strobe safety descriptors, and companion-app interfaces.

 Status
 Public repo
 Artifact
 Rust crates, Quest examples, and docs
 Use
 Reproducible XR contracts across tools

 Rust / OpenXR / Vulkan / Meta Quest / Tooling

 [Technical overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/rusty-xr.html)
 [Source repo](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Rusty-XR)
 [Passthrough guide](https://mesmerprism.github.io/Rusty-XR/passthrough.html)

 Biofeedback sensor integration

### [Polar H10 Work](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/polar-h10.html)

 Public Polar H10 work across minimal signal packages, Rusty XR data
 contracts, Quest broker streams, Windows capture, Android phone
 diagnostics, Unity Quest integration, and Viscereality research tooling.
 The focus is clear stream ownership, inspectable routing, and reusable
 biosignal contracts.

 Status
 Active tooling and research support
 Artifact
 Signal packages, decoders, broker routes, capture tools, and docs
 Use
 Heart, RR, ECG, and accelerometer paths for XR

 Polar H10 / BLE / PMD / LSL / Quest / Windows / Android

 [Project overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/polar-h10.html)
 [Signal packages](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/polar-h10-signals)
 [Pipeline docs](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Rusty-XR/blob/main/docs/BLE_LSL_POLAR_PIPELINE.md)
 [Windows capture](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Rusty-XR-Companion-Apps/blob/main/docs/polar-h10-windows-capture.md)

 Depth inversion research instrument

### [Hollow Face Lab](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html)

 Depth-inversion experiments need stimulus controls that survive renderer
 changes. Hollow Face Lab connects hollow-face research with WebGL, WebXR,
 Rusty XR, asset provenance, and design rationale.

 Status
 Prototype instrument
 Artifact
 Browser/WebXR lab design
 Focus
 Stimulus variables and response logging

 Hollow face / WebXR / Three.js / Rusty XR / Stimulus variables

 [Overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html#references)
 [Rusty XR](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/rusty-xr.html)

 Live citizen-science web collaboration

### [Altered Xperience Project](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/altered-xperience-project.html)

 A CIRCE-led citizen-science survey for anonymous altered-state reports.
 The page explains how the public survey, multilingual questionnaires,
 feedback, scoring, privacy boundaries, research exports, and collaborator
 workflow fit together.

 Status
 Live survey collaboration
 Artifact
 Survey app + access guide
 Role
 Web infrastructure and collaborator tooling

 Citizen science / Shiny / Survey systems / Open science / CIRCE

 [System overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/altered-xperience-project.html)
 [Live AXP survey](https://alteredxproject.com/)
 [Access guide](https://mesmerprism.com/axp-mvp-survey-guide/)

 Embodiment and design research

### [Plasmatic Multitudes](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/plasmatic-multitudes.html)

 A vocabulary for bodies that soften, distribute, glow, swarm, or become
 collective while remaining readable as bodies. The design rule is simple:
 center stable, periphery negotiable.

 Status
 Essay and design vocabulary
 Artifact
 Overview + field guide
 Use
 XR embodiment and avatar translation

 Embodiment / XR / Media theory / Interface design

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/plasmatic-multitudes.html)
 [Deep field guide](https://mesmerprism.com/plasmatic-multitudes/)
 [Long essay](https://mesmerprism.com/plasmatic-multitudes/essay.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/plasmatic-multitudes/references.html)

 Writing and conceptual synthesis

### [SANE](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/sane.html)

 A four-part framework for experiences that cannot be explained by body
 practice, tool design, narrative, or feedback loops alone. It asks what
 each layer contributes before joining them.

 Status
 Proposed framework
 Artifact
 Source-grounded public essay
 Focus
 Body, tools, meaning, and systems

 Somaesthetic / Anthropotechnical / Noetic / Emergent

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/sane.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/sane.html#references)

 Tulpas, thoughtforms, and inner agency

### [Tulpas](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/tulpas.html)

 A careful reference guide to modern tulpamancy language, cultivated inner
 companions, thoughtforms, headmates, imposition, plurality, and related
 agency vocabularies without turning them into one lineage.

 Status
 Research guide
 Artifact
 Source-rich public article
 Focus
 Language, sources, and lineages

 Tulpamancy / Imposition / Plurality / Inner agency

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/tulpas.html)
 [Evidence](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/tulpas.html#evidence)
 [Prophantasia](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/prophantasia.html)
 [Phenomenological Control](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/phenomenological-control.html)

 Knowledge-art and research method

### [Scientific Surrealism](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/scientific-surrealism.html)

 A dream bureau, scientific-looking journal, diagram, or experimental
 machine becomes surrealist here when it changes what counts as an
 observation. The page keeps apparatus, art history, and pseudoscience
 separate.

 Status
 Research map
 Artifact
 Public article + references
 Focus
 Apparatus, observation, and knowledge-art

 Surrealism / Wissenskunst / Archives / Modern science

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/scientific-surrealism.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/scientific-surrealism.html#references)

 Altered perception and induced vision

### [Brain Candy](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/brain-candy.html)

 A design and research project about how rhythmic light, recursive visual
 structure, sound, breath, and expectation can shape non-drug state shifts.
 It is about tunable experience design, not clinical treatment or
 psychedelic substitution.

 Strobotorch remains separate Android tooling for visual signal encoding,
 visual signal decoding, and flashlight-safety boundaries.

 Status
 Hybrid design collaboration + evidence map
 Artifact
 Project site + evidence overview
 Focus
 Tunable state-shift design

 Cyberdelics / Fractal fluency / Rhythm / VR design

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/brain-candy.html)
 [V1 form constants](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/bressloff-v1-form-constants.html)
 [Project site](https://braincandyapp.com/)

 Independent Android signal tooling

### [Strobotorch](https://mesmerprism.com/Strobotorch/)

 An Android flashlight signaling and diagnostics tool. It uses torch and
 camera APIs for visible-light signal experiments, device-behavior logging,
 and safety documentation.

 Status
 Public MIT-licensed tooling
 Artifact
 Android app + safety guide
 Focus
 Torch and camera signal diagnostics

 Android / Visual signals / Camera diagnostics / Torch APIs

 [Project page](https://mesmerprism.com/Strobotorch/)
 [Scope](https://mesmerprism.com/Strobotorch/project-boundary/)
 [Sources](https://mesmerprism.com/Strobotorch/sources/)
 [Source repo](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Strobotorch)

 Interactive visual-cortex simulator

### [Bressloff V1 Form Constants](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/bressloff-v1-form-constants.html)

 A Rust/browser implementation and article for Bressloff-style V1 planforms,
 retino-cortical mapping, orientation contours, branch-selection controls,
 named paper presets, Rule flicker diagnostics, and generated MacKay,
 Bolelli, and Nicks driven-field reports. The page keeps each model
 family inspectable without reusing private paper figures.

 Status
 Interactive article + public repo
 Artifact
 Browser figures and Rust renderer
 Focus
 V1 planforms, flicker, and driven fields

 Rust / V1 model / Retino-cortical maps / Form constants

 [Article](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/bressloff-v1-form-constants.html)
 [Deep dive](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/bressloff-v1-form-constants-deep-dive.html)
 [Source code](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/bressloff-v1-form-constants)
 [Original notebook](https://github.com/karacsm/V1-sim)

 Simulated psychedelic vision

### [Deep Dream](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/deep-dream.html)

 An account of DeepDream, hallucination-machine methods, community
 replication culture, and the narrow conditions under which simulated
 DeepDream fits inside the wider history of psychedelic visual simulation.

 Status
 Long-form research article
 Artifact
 Evidence guide + references
 Focus
 Visual simulation and provenance

 Machine vision / VR / Psychedelic simulation / Provenance

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/deep-dream.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/deep-dream.html#references)

 Static motion and perceptual mechanics

### [Optical Movement Illusions](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/optical-movement-illusions.html)

 A mechanism-first account of peripheral drift, Rotating Snakes, and
 adjacent static motion illusions, kept close to eye-movement,
 luminance, and filter-design evidence.

 Status
 Mechanism guide
 Artifact
 Public article + references
 Use
 Design translation from psychophysics

 Vision science / Motion illusions / Filters / Psychophysics

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/optical-movement-illusions.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/optical-movement-illusions.html#references)

 Imagery, suggestion, and mechanism

### [Phenomenological Control](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/phenomenological-control.html)

 A synthesis of imagery variation, absorption, expectancy, hypnotic
 suggestibility, and how subjective variation meets physiology, lesion
 evidence, and newer shared-code findings.

 Status
 Research guide
 Artifact
 Public synthesis + references
 Focus
 Expectation, imagery, and source monitoring

 Imagery / Absorption / Suggestion / Meaning-making

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/phenomenological-control.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/phenomenological-control.html#references)

 Projected imagery and field mapping

### [Prophantasia](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/prophantasia.html)

 A guide to reports of internally generated imagery that seems external,
 overlaid on the world, or located outside the ordinary mind's eye. It keeps
 measurement, community practice, and safety signals separate.

 Status
 Research map
 Artifact
 Evidence guide + future survey framing
 Focus
 Projected imagery report categories

 Mental imagery / Aphantasia / Imposition / Measurement

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/prophantasia.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/prophantasia.html#references)

 Retinal stimulation and patterned light

### [Fractal Optics](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/fractal-optics.html)

 A bounded account of the Russian fractal-phototherapy line and its
 retinal, ophthalmic, lighting, and comparator literatures. Fractal
 structure is treated as stimulus, not vibe.

 Status
 Evidence map
 Artifact
 Public article + reference audit
 Focus
 Fractal structure as stimulus

 Retina / Fractals / VR delivery / Comparator studies

 [Research overview](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/fractal-optics.html)
 [References](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/fractal-optics.html#references)

 Code and prototypes

### GitHub and research tooling

 Public repositories include Rusty XR, Rusty XR Companion Apps,
 Polar H10 routing and capture work, Strobotorch, browser prototypes,
 simulation tools, and shareable research infrastructure. Study-bound
 runtimes are summarized through documented interfaces, papers, and public
 references.

 Status
 Public repositories
 Artifact
 Code, docs, prototypes, and diagnostics
 Access
 GitHub and project documentation

 Repositories / Simulations / Tooling / Infrastructure

 [GitHub profile](https://github.com/MesmerPrism)
 [Rusty-XR](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Rusty-XR)
 [Polar H10 work](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/polar-h10.html)
 [Rusty-XR Companion Apps](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Rusty-XR-Companion-Apps)
 [Strobotorch](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/Strobotorch)
 [Bressloff V1 code](https://github.com/MesmerPrism/bressloff-v1-form-constants)
 [AXP access guide](https://mesmerprism.com/axp-mvp-survey-guide/)

## Publications and presentations

 Selected outputs across immersive systems, psychophysics, breath interaction,
 and XR communication.

- 2026 Fejer et al. [Breathing Space: Spatial Mapping of Breath and Cardiac Biofeedback for Affective State Representation and Coherence Training in Viscereality.](https://doi.org/10.1145/3780045.3780061) AlpCHI 2026 proceedings.

- 2025 Fejer et al. [Viscereality: A Bio-responsive VR System for Breath-Based Interactions and Coupled Oscillator Dynamics to Augment Altered States of Consciousness.](https://doi.org/10.18420/muc2025-mci-ws11-174) Mensch und Computer 2025 workshop.

- 2025 Lobser and Holzapfel. [Brain Candy](https://braincandyapp.com/): Flicker Light Stimulation in Virtual Reality. Poster presented at AWE 2025, IVRHA 2025, and MindXR 2025.

- 2024 Roebuck Williams et al. [Measuring the Limit of Perception of Bond Stiffness of Interactive Molecules in VR via a Gamified Psychophysics Experiment.](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71707-9_13) XR SALENTO 2024 proceedings.

## Background

 My background moves between cognitive science, HCI, psychophysics, media
 theory, and research writing. The essays name concepts, lineages, and
 source limits before carrying those questions into XR systems, browser
 simulations, physiological sensing, and embodied prototypes.

 Across [Plasmatic Multitudes](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/plasmatic-multitudes.html),
 [SANE](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/sane.html),
 [Tulpas](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/tulpas.html),
 [Scientific Surrealism](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/scientific-surrealism.html),
 [Rusty XR](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/rusty-xr.html),
 [Polar H10 Work](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/polar-h10.html),
 [Quest Companion Tools](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/viscereality-companion.html),
 [Hollow Face Lab](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/hollow-face-lab.html),
 [Altered Xperience Project](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/altered-xperience-project.html),
 [Brain Candy](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/brain-candy.html),
 [Strobotorch](https://mesmerprism.com/Strobotorch/),
 [Bressloff V1 Form Constants](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/bressloff-v1-form-constants.html),
 [Deep Dream](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/deep-dream.html),
 [Optical Movement Illusions](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/optical-movement-illusions.html),
 [Phenomenological Control](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/phenomenological-control.html),
 [Prophantasia](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/prophantasia.html),
 and [Fractal Optics](https://mesmerprism.com/projects/fractal-optics.html), the recurring terrain is
 altered perception, weakly bounded bodies, phenomenological variation, and
 the practical conditions that make strange experience legible without flattening
 it.

### Core strengths

- Unity and C# for XR and interactive systems

- Biofeedback, breath interaction, and interoception-oriented design

- Perception research, psychophysics, and embodied HCI

- Citizen-science survey systems, research tooling, and public guides

- Long-form research writing, source discipline, and conceptual synthesis

- Weakly bounded embodiment, avatar design, and plasmatic interaction

### Current and recent roles

- VR Developer & Researcher, Viscereality Project

- Citizen-science survey infrastructure, Altered Xperience Project / CIRCE collaboration

- Scientific Advisor, [Light Clinic](https://light.clinic/)

- Visual Artist / Developer / Researcher, Tactile Visualizer Project

- Public Outreach & Citizen Science, Intangible Realities Lab

## Contact

 If you are building something across XR, altered perception, embodiment,
 research tooling, or interdisciplinary writing and design, contact me here.

- Email [mesmerprism@gmail.com](mailto:mesmerprism@gmail.com)

- GitHub [github.com/MesmerPrism](https://github.com/MesmerPrism)

- LinkedIn [linkedin.com/in/till-holzapfel-intangiblerealitieslab](https://www.linkedin.com/in/till-holzapfel-intangiblerealitieslab/)

- Current project [viscereality.org](https://viscereality.org/)