HALO, a shared eclipse moment. Exploring how collective sensations unfold during a total solar eclipse.
Sensations
During totality, people report more than visual changes and astronomical phenomena. They also describe distinct sensations:
Sudden stillness
Shifts in temperature
Changes in sound & movement
Altered light perception
Heightened emotional awareness
A sense of collective presence
These sensations are immediate and embodied. They rise. They peak. They fade. HALO focuses on this temporal flow.
What HALO Does
HALO aligns three layers during a total solar eclipse:
1. the fixed astronomical timeline
2. human sensations in a specific location
3. short, voluntary reflections
Rather than reducing the moment to averages, HALO preserves variation across people and across time.
The goal is not to score or diagnose individuals, but to make collective patterns visible.
Timeline
Key milestones in the development and deployment of HALO, 2026 to 2027.
January 2026
App design & concept development.
User flow and technical architecture.
Late February 2026
Video & audio research begins.
Collaboration with The Hague University of Applied Sciences.
March 2026
App build begins.
Operational development + exploratory wearable track.
April–July 2026
Development, integration & testing.
Field coordination across the eclipse path.
12 August 2026
LIVE FIELD DEPLOYMENT.
Real-time alignment of phases & collective sensations.
Late 2026 — Afterglow
Digital & physical visualisation.
Structured review and refinement.
2027
Expansion phase.
Broader deployment during the 2 August 2027 eclipse.
Funding
HALO is currently raising funding via Kickstarter to support its first live deployment. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2054268179/halo-a-shared-eclipse-moment?ref=db71pb
The goal is not a finished consumer product, but a carefully designed real-world implementation during the 2026 eclipse.