"Virtual reality is almost the perfect metaphor for psychosis. You know you’re in the room but what you’re seeing and believing is so different.” This week's guest on The Possibility Club is technology and health pioneer Sarah Ticho. Sarah Ticho has spent her career working across the interdisciplinary arts, academia, healthcare and technology as a producer, curator, artist and researcher. She graduated from the University of Kent with a First Class Honours BSc in Anthropology, with a year in Japan . Following her degree, she worked with the NHS before moving into contemporary art, worked with organisations including Fabrica Gallery and Lighthouse, Brighton. In 2016 she moved to Australia where she worked with The School of Life, TEDxSydney. It was here she began working in VR and joined The Big Anxiety Festival as a Researcher, VR Curator and “Awkward Conversationalist”. In 2017 she moved to the US and became a research assistant at Stanford University, California, investigating the cross-cultural sensory experience of communicating with God. She moved back to the UK and founded Hatsumi in May 2018. Alongside her role with Hatsumi, she is the producer on Deep, a meditative VR experience controlled by breathing, and is the healthcare lead for Immerse UK. Richard Freeman and Sarah spoke in June 2019 about her career and lived experiences, the role of tech in the future of health diagnosis and whether virtual reality really is the 'empathy machine'. --- Useful links: Preston Park Rose Garden https://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/places/placepark/preston-park/preston-park-21 Hatsumi VR https://www.hatsumivr.com/ Hatsumi presents Noosphere at TomTech’s VR Lab, 2018 https://www.vrfocus.com/2018/08/hatsumi-vr-presents-noosphere-mindfulness-in-a-hyper-connected-world-at-the-brighton-digital-festival/ Sarah talks Immerse UK on Knowledge Transfer Network https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b19zEoM_Ik Fabrica Gallery https://www.fabrica.org.uk/ Lighthouse, Brighton http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/ TEDx Sydney https://tedxsydney.com/ The Big Anxiety Festival, Australia https://www.thebiganxiety.org/ Sarah on StoryHackXR podcast, spring 2019 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/6-myra-appannah-somnai-sarah-ticho-hatsumi-vr/id1435531214?i=1000424884756 Deep VR http://www.exploredeep.com/ The Verge on Oculus Quest https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/27/20885082/oculus-quest-home-headset-lineup-oc6
