About the network

Tom Ebeyer was among the first 21 reported cases of ‘congenital aphantasia’ mentioned in the original scientific paper by Dr. Adam Zeman in 2015. The paper was picked up by media outlets, including the New York Times, which led to an outpouring of new discoverers who also identified with having aphantasia.

Tom quickly realized there was no available support or information for people with a ‘blind mind’s eye,’ so he began building the foundations for a network. Tom’s story was picked up by CBC’s Doc Project in 2019, and the episode Think of a Horse produced by the network’s Creative Director, Paul Aflalo, aired several times across Canada on CBC Radio.

In January of 2019, interest in extreme imagination, aphantasia and it’s opposite hyperphantasia, or extremely vivid mental imagery, grew considerably when Ed Catmull, founder and former CEO of Pixar with Steve Jobs, was profiled on BBC News as also being ‘blind in the mind’s eye’.

In a surprising survey of Ed’s former employees, Catmull discovered so too do some of the world’s best Disney animators like Glen Keane, the creator of The Little Mermaid. Since the discovery of aphantasia, media attention has been growing steadily including receiving a mention in the Netflix original series, Space Force with Steve Carell.  Dr. Zeman’s original paper now scores in the top 5% of all research interests on Altmetric.

It became apparent to co-founders of the Network, Tom and Jennie that people across the spectrum of imagination needed a place to discover and learn about aphantasia. To explore some of the latest science and share stories about this unique variation in human experience. The pair began building Aphantasia Network in Sept 2019. Aphantasia Network is now the #1 place for discovering aphantasia, a condition impacting more than 3% of people worldwide. 

After hundreds of conversations and interactions with people from all over the world, it became clear that aphantasia isn’t necessarily an all or nothing. In fact, many aphantasics report imagery in some of the other senses. But there was no way to quantity the spectrum of imaginative experiences. 

During the 2020 global pandemic, Tom and Jennie set out to build the world’s first digital assessment measuring the spectrum of sensory imagination. Imagination Spectrum measures the vividness of your imagination across mental imagery senses – visual, auditory, olfactory and more. The product is set to release in October 2021, at the Extreme Imagination virtual conference. 

Since launch, the Network has grown beyond their imagination. Even if Tom could picture it. The Network is sustained by a dedicated team of volunteers, it’s supported by humble patrons and strengthened by members from across the globe. Guided by world-leading scientists, Imagination Spectrum aims to develop the world’s first cognitive profile of imagery extremes, aphantasia, hyperphantasia, and everything in between.