Exercise 1: What does this non-human animal perceive?

Instructions

Show a random landscape image (by using MapCrunch).

Ask participants to choose a non-human animal they imagine could live in that landscape — without worrying too much about biological accuracy.

Then, based on that choice, ask them to imagine how the landscape might appear to that being, focusing on a sensory mode like from the list bellow.

Encourage them to speculate freely:

“What would stand out? What would be invisible or irrelevant? How would time, space, or boundaries feel?”

Sensory modes to choose from:

🦇 Echolocation – sensing space and shape through echoes (e.g. bats, dolphins)

🌡 Infrared sensing – perceiving heat patterns (e.g. snakes)

🧪 Chemoreception – detecting chemicals in the air or water like smells or tastes (e.g. octopuses, insects, fungi)

🌈 Ultraviolet vision – seeing colours invisible to humans (e.g. bees, birds)

🧭 Magnetoreception – sensing the Earth’s magnetic field (e.g. migratory birds, sea turtles)

🌊 Vibration sensing – feeling subtle ground or water vibrations (e.g. spiders, plant roots)

💨 Flow or air current detection – feeling subtle movements in air or water (e.g. fish, some reptiles)

🌱 Light sensitivity without eyes – responding to light/dark cycles without visual images (e.g. plants)