Transformations

Transformations are defined as the experience of a perceived visual metamorphosis that specific parts of one's external environment undergo as they shapeshift into other objects. For example, people who undergo this effect will often report seeing parts of their environment shifting into completely different things. These transformations have a huge variety of potential artistic styles and differing levels of detail, realism, and animation.

These hallucinations are progressive in nature, which means they form by arising from patterns or objects and then, over a period of seconds, the object smoothly drifts in a fluid-like motion into an entirely new form. This is significantly enhanced and fueled by the separate visual effect of pattern recognition enhancement. It causes vague stimuli and objects to transform into incredibly detailed versions of what they were already perceived as being.

At lower levels, the process of transformation can require some minimal amount of focus and concentration to sustain and will appear more often in the peripheral field of vision. Losing concentration for an instant can cause the image to fade away or shift into another image. Holding the eyes still will usually increase the intensity of the progressive transformation. However, at higher levels, this becomes completely unnecessary.

It is worth noting that the content, style, and general behaviour of a transformation is often largely dependent on the emotional state of the person experiencing it. For example, a person who is emotionally stable and generally happy will usually be more prone to experiencing neutral and interesting transformations. In contrast, however, a person who is emotionally unstable and generally unhappy will usually be more prone to experiencing sinister and fear-inducing transformations which have the potential to exacerbate even more the negative feelings.

Transformations are often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as drifting, pattern recognition enhancement and external hallucinations. They are most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of psychedelic compounds, such as LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline. However, they can also occur under the influence of deliriants such as DPH, datura, and benzydamine.