What can flocks of birds teach us about cooperation? 

That’s the question that set award-winning artist Hillary Leone on her 5+ year journey to create an immersive experience designed to foster human connection in a divided world, modeled on the shape-shifting patterns of flocking birds. Just as flocks are more than a collection of birds, might human groups, under the right conditions, become something more than a collection of individual members? Might the experience of emerging as a collective help us focus not on what divides us but rather on what connects us, our common humanity?

In 2020, as the pandemic unfolded, Hillary enlisted a team of UK-based scientists to help make this vision of emergent cooperation a reality, laying the groundwork for what has become a rich and inspiring multi-year collaboration. Creating the conditions for human emergence proved to be scientifically and logistically challenging. Even if we could model it and develop the technology to measure it, would people be able to achieve emergence? This was new science.

Both art and science ask questions, but they move to different rhythms. Science is methodical, built on proof and prediction. Art is fluid, unbound by certainty. Together, through logical exploration and lived experience, they expand the boundaries of human understanding. It is in this space between inquiry and creativity that Synch.Live was born. To find out more about the art and science of Synch.Live, please visit the website.

After play testing Synch.Live with over 750 people in London, New York, and Los Angeles, we saw firsthand its power to transform groups into something greater than the sum of their parts. People from all walks of life found the experience novel, challenging, joyful and bonding. Again and again, we heard: “Where can I bring my friends to play Synch.Live?”

In 2024, Hillary met Jay Miolla, a creative technologist and producer with deep technical expertise in the immersive experiential space and a proven track record executing live, technology-driven events. Driven by the impact and potential of this work, we launched Synch.Live Events, a production company dedicated to bringing this groundbreaking experience to a wider audience.