1. Backstory
The Sleep Lab was only SomniTech’s entry point into something far larger: The Red Shadow Project (TRSP). In this speculative future, Singapore has faltered, and TRSP can send a person’s cognitive imprint backwards in time to prevent the events that led to this decline.
To reach that level of technology, RED first had to solve a more basic problem: how to guide and align human minds in a sleep state. Sleep – a frontier of human inefficiency – seems wasteful in the capitalist present. By harnessing sound, SomniTech realised they could turn sleeping individuals into productive agents whose cognitive states could be guided and controlled.
Within the fiction, the Sleep Lab functions as an early-stage screening environment. Through the onboarding form and CASE evaluations, participants are assessed for susceptibility to sound and alignment in a dream state. Those who appear more responsive are considered more suitable as potential candidates for RED’s future plans.
2. Framing
The narrative and dramaturgical structure are framed by two opposing forces:
| Aspect | Order | Chaos |
| Forces | TRSP, Adrian, Sleep | LUCID, Hacker, Wakefulness |
| Narrative goal | Assimilate: sacrifice individuality for the collective good | Terminate: sacrifice progress and individuals for autonomy |
| Lights | Blue, warm, lulling into dream | Red, flickering, jolting into wakefulness |
| Sound | Sleep jingle, hypnotic “elevator music” | Wake jingle, discordant noises |
| Information | Reading: articles, forms, official reports; Formal, cohesive; Factual, institutional narratives. | Hearing: audio clips, arguments, jingles; Intimate, fragmented; Emotional, personal stakes. |
The story reflects our current moment, where AI debates are often framed in extremes: utopian or apocalyptic. Neural Echoes sidesteps this binary, instead inviting participants to exercise agency and shape the world or future they want to inhabit. In the lab, the path forward required information-seeking, discussion, empathy, and consensus: using your eyes to read, ears to listen, and mouths to negotiate. The final outcome matters less than the messy, human work of navigating complexity together.
3. Data and consent
Outside the fiction, your individual responses in the onboarding form and CASE evaluation remain private. Data is compiled only in aggregate, shared anonymously at the end of the show, and deleted afterwards. This gesture also invites reflection on how readily we give up personal information about our bodies, habits, and rest to systems promising insight, optimisation, or care.
4. References
While fictional, Neural Echoes is grounded in real research and draws on ongoing debates in sleep science (such as how handedness may affect sleep quality) and sound perception (including how phenomena like frisson can be physiologically tracked via heart rate). The scientific journal articles presented in the lab are real publications, whose concepts often read like science fiction despite being grounded in current research.
5. Behind the scenes
Our small, hybrid creative team built this show iteratively, constantly rewriting, redesigning, and re-voicing material. AI remained a key tool throughout the writing process, helping revise and refine drafts to maintain narrative and character consistency as the world evolved. While AI was used initially to generate audio lines, we ultimately hired human actors to embody Dr Adrian Tan and the Hacker. These production choices were both practical and thematic, blurring the boundaries between human and machine.
Thank you for experiencing Neural Echoes: Enter the Sleep Lab.