STROBONAUT Mk II

Experience visionary states with ganzflicker
a luminous launchpad into liminal dreaming

To sit, with eyes closed, in front of a stroboscopic lamp is a very curious and fascinating experience.

Aldous Huxley. The Doors of Perception: And Heaven and Hell

Not believing at that time, as I do today, that the potential for a mystical experience is the natural birthright of all human beings, I attributed everything that happened to the combined effect of LSD and the stroboscopic light.

Stanislav Grof, The Way of the Psychonaut, Volume I: Encyclopedia for Inner Journeys

Strobonaut is a stroboscopic ganzfeld (ganzflicker) app for Android phones. When used in a smartphone Virtual Reality headset for meditation and music-listening reverie it has psychedelic effects promoting mental health and creativity by giving access to altered states of consciousness and vivid dream-like visual imagery released from the deep brain / unconscious.

Introducing the Strobonaut Mk II

The Definitive Deep Inner Space Vessel

For the discerning strobonaut who accepts nothing less than the finest device for deep inner space exploration, we are pleased to present the Strobonaut Mk II — a craft of uncompromising cutting-edge neuroscientific illuminism.

The Mk II represents the culmination of four decades of research into the effects of Flicker Drive on zoetic oscillations and its application in visionary exploration of Flickerspace. It will take you where your brain needs to go. The rest, as Deep Space Command has always maintained, is simply a matter of logging a sufficient number of flicker jumps to get your star¹. As they say down in the pilots’ mess: “Four jumps a day keeps the shrink away!”.

I. THE FINGELKURTS NAVIGATION CONSOLE

Three-Operational-Module Configuration — Standard

Every Mk II is fitted as standard with the acclaimed Fingelkurts Navigation Console² the only guidance array on the market to distribute navigational function across three synchronously Operational Modules (OMs), each assigned to a distinct dimension of Structured Phenomenological Self-Navigation during a flicker run and bound together by the alpha carrier wave. The three OMs resonating within the vibrational matrix of Flickerspace allow precise attunement to the zoetic carrier wave of ~10Hz and its harmonics.

• The Observer OM — F3, Fz, F4 — Visuals — Captain on the Bridge: the frontal viewport and primary instrument cluster. Continuous real-time monitoring of Flickerspace and executive decision-making.
• The Embodier OM — P4, T6, O2 — Viscerals — the Chief Engineer: direct hardwired connection to the body’s felt-sense field and interoceptive chakric array. Channels and processes the visceral energy of EONic warp drives emerging from the deep brain, delivering flicker jumps of a quality that must be experienced to be believed. The delayed screen-brightening on eye-reopening has been described by users as, variously, “extraordinary”, “fusional, man, I mean … “, and “yes please, again.”
• The Narrator OM — P3, T5, O1 — Verbals — the Helm: launches and steers via the sustained continuity of a strobonaut’s personal mantra script and internal running commentary. The Narrator’s most critical role is to manage the controls during a mission launch by inward recitation of the launch sequence mantras.

II. THE PANKSEPP PROPULSION UNIT

Nine-EON Warp Drive Configuration — the industry’s first

At the heart of the Mk II sits the Panksepp Propulsion Unit — a deep-brain drive system of unrivalled power, drawing its thrust from nine fully operational Emotional Operating Networks, each a discrete warp drive in its own right:

SEEKING · RAGE · FEAR · LUST · CARE · PANIC/GRIEF · PLAY · POWER · DISGUST

Where previous generation craft made do with seven EONs³, the Mk II is the first vessel in its class to incorporate the full nine-EONic array, including the new POWER and DISGUST drives⁴. Each EONic warp drive fires from the periaqueductal gray and superior colliculus of the primordial brainstem, delivering primary-process thrust of unmatched dimensionality.

III. THE LUTHE STAR CHART GPS

Navigational Atlas of Deep Inner Space — unparallelled

The Mk II incorporates the Luthe Star Chart GPS — the most comprehensive navigational database of the inner cosmos ever assembled, drawn from Wolfgang Luthe’s unparallelled explorations (over 10,000 logged) into the deep regions of autogenic abreaction across six volumes of clinical cartography.⁵

Regions of Flickerspace:
Region 0: The Launchpad — Blank Screen
Region I: Ignition — Central Focus / Mandala
Region II: Atmospheric Exit — Patterns / Tunnel
Region III: Orbit — Luminous Mist / Shadowy Shapes
Regions IV and V: Interplanetary Space — Scenes, Settings, and Filmstrips
Region VI: Interstellar Space — the Numinosum
Region VII: The Destination Star — Mystic Bright Light

References

¹ Hoban R. 1996 Fremder. Jonathan Cape.
² Fingelkurts A. A. & Fingelkurts A. A. 2025 Self, Me, or I? Unravelling the Triumvirate of Selfhood in Pathological Consciousness. Brain Sciences, 15(6), 640.
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15060640
³ Panksepp J. & Biven L. 2012 The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotion. Norton.
⁴ Toronchuk J.A. & Ellis G.F.R. 2013 Affective neuronal selection: The nature of the primordial emotion systems. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 589. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00589
⁵ Luthe W. 1973 Autogenic Therapy, Vol. VI: Treatment with Autogenic Neutralization. Grune & Stratton.

For further information on the neuroscience see the Current Research Directions section at the foot of this page.

Please read the Safety Information before downloading the app:

As a safety feature, to prevent unauthorised access by children and others who might be at risk, on most smartphones the app only opens when the phone is held precisely horizontal in relation to the gravitational field of the planet or space station you are on.

Click the icon below to download Strobonaut for Android

If you use an iPhone consider purchasing a refurbished Android to use as a dedicated Strobonaut propulsion unit. It means that then you do not get interrupted by calls, notifications etc. during a flicker run. Your main phone can be used for the session audio. Recommended models of Android are given below.

Go to Flicker Drive for the instruction manual on how to pilot the app, including detailed information on using Flicker Jumps (alpha rebound) to progress from elementary to complex levels of visual imagery:

For a description of the hallucinatory progression through the Star Chart from elementary levels of visioning through to complex imagery of the numinosum and mystic bright light go to:

Installing the Strobonaut App on Android

The Strobonaut app is a direct download (APK file) for Android devices. It comes directly from the developer (Pete Carr, a psychiatrist with EMDR expertise) and is safe to install. Follow these steps to install:

Step 1: Enable Installation from Unknown Sources

Before you can install the app, you’ll need to adjust your phone’s security settings:

• Android 8.0 and newer: When you try to install the APK, Android will prompt you to allow installation from your browser or file manager. Tap “Settings” and enable “Allow from this source”
• Older Android versions: Go to Settings > Security, and enable “Unknown sources” or “Install unknown apps”

Step 2: Download the APK

• Tap the download link on this website using your Android phone’s browser
• The APK file will download to your device (usually to your Downloads folder)

Step 3: Install the App

• Once downloaded, tap the notification or open your Downloads folder
• Tap the Strobonaut APK file
• Follow the installation prompts
• Tap “Install” when prompted

Step 4: Launch Strobonaut

• Once installed, you can find the Strobonaut app in your app drawer

Smartphone VR Headsets for Ganzflicker

Basic smartphone VR headsets are inexpensive and widely available:

• These are simple holders with lenses that turn your phone into a VR display — not expensive standalone VR gaming systems
• They are lightweight, easy to use, and can be found online and in stores worldwide
• Any smartphone VR headset that fits your phone can be used for ganzflicker meditation with the Strobonaut app

For EMDR eye movement features:

• The Destek V5 headset (recommended) includes a touch button that allows you to switch between ganzflicker mode and eye movement mode during your session
• The Destek V5 is currently available on ebay for £15-£20

Using a dedicated Android phone (optional but recommended):

If you use an iPhone, or want to enhance your sessions, consider using a dedicated Android phone for the Strobonaut app. Refurbished Android phones are available online at modest prices depending on model and condition.

For best results, choose a refurbished Android phone with a 6.2–6.7 inch display, slim bezels and overall size under about 163 × 83 mm (the Destek V5 limit). Examples that work well include the Nokia 3.4, Samsung Galaxy A51, Motorola Moto G8 Power and Xiaomi Redmi Note 9. These are often available refurbished in the £50–£80 range, depending on condition.

Benefits of using two phones:

• Keep your main phone available for audio (music, guided meditation, hypnosis, etc.)
• Use the dedicated secondary phone in the VR headset for uninterrupted ganzflicker sessions
• Avoid notifications or calls disrupting your meditation

CURRENT RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

It is high time we realized that it is pointless to praise the light and preach it if nobody can see it. It is much more needful to teach people the art of seeing … … … In order to facilitate this inner vision we must first clear the way for the faculty of seeing.

C.G. Jung, Psychology & Alchemy, CW vol.12 §14

Many cultures regard hallucination, like dreams, as a special, privileged state of consciousness – one that is actively sought through spiritual practices, meditation, drugs, or solitude. But in modern Western culture, hallucinations are more often considered to portend madness or something dire happening to the brain – even though the vast majority of hallucinations have no such dark implications. There is great stigma here.

Oliver Sacks, Hallucinations

An introduction to ganzflicker for the general reader:

The first research study on ganzflicker:

A review of strobe’s psychedelic effects:

A research study assessing treatment of depression with stroboscopic light:

A recent survey of thousands of paintings of visions evoked by a flickering Dreammachine found that the classic Jungian fourfold mandala pattern was depicted with significant frequency:

An account of Wolfgang Luthe’s studies of bright light experiences induced by processes of autogenic neutralization:

The Alpha Rebound Phenomenon:

In order to understand the working brain as a network, it is essential to identify the mechanisms by which information is gated between regions. We here propose that information is gated by inhibiting task-irrelevant regions, thus routing information to task-relevant regions. The functional inhibition is reflected in oscillatory activity in the alpha band (8–13 Hz).

Jensen & Mazaheri 2010 Shaping functional architecture by oscillatory alpha activity: gating by inhibition

Adrian and Matthews (1934) reported that when subjects open their eyes in a uniform visual field (illuminated or completely dark) a short time after the usual α-blocking effect synchronisation reappears. Lehtonen and Lehtinen (1972) examined the effects of a uniform visual field on α rhythm. The authors found that eyes open in a uniform visual field (sheet of paper placed in front of eyes) or ganzfeld (translucent hemisphere) led, after an initial delay, to reappearance of α activity that is comparable to the eyes closed level.

Putz Braeunig & Wackermann, 2006, EEG correlates of multimodal ganzfeld induced hallucinatory imagery

Ganzflicker’s primary action is to drive alpha rhythms into hypersynchrony and amplified amplitude. The Fingelkurts meditation literature shows that the hallmark neurophysiological trait of deep, long-term meditative development is increased frontal alpha synchrony — the Observer coming into fuller command. Independently, Lindahl et al. (2014) found that meditation-induced luminous experiences — ranging from discrete phosphenic points to diffuse brightening of the entire visual field — arose consistently in the context of heightened concentration and were neurophysiologically preceded by increases in global alpha power, implicating alpha-mediated functional inhibition and sensory suppression as the gateway to such light phenomena. In a self-experimentation study I found that further augmentation of alpha during ganzflicker meditation by using the rebound phenomenon reliably led to mystical-type bright light experiences . It is hypothesised that the bright light experience is a result of alpha-mediated functional inhibition of the primary visual pathway allowing activation of the retinotectal pathway to the deep brain’s affective centres:

The Flicker Drive page is an expanding exposition on the topic of stroboscopic meditation and psychotherapy. Ongoing developments will include transcript material from stroboscopic therapy sessions illustrating how the content of the complex visual hallucinations induced by stroboscopic meditation and psychotherapy follows the thematic patterns described by Wolfgang Luthe in his account of the brain’s innate processes of autogenic neutralization (referring to the homeostatic neutralization of brain-disturbance).

Luthe described these self-regulatory thematic patterns in the early 1970s from detailed analysis of hundreds of transcripts of autogenic abreaction. They fit precisely with the categories of the primary-process Emotional Operating Networks (EONs) of the deep brain elucidated by more recent neuroscience — SEEKING, RAGE, FEAR, CARE, LUST, PLAY, PANIC / GRIEF, POWER, DISGUST. The first seven of these were described by Jaak Panksepp in the 1980’s and neuroscientists have since added the last two.

The Strobonaut Project aims to unite Luthe’s clinical phenomenology, the Selfhood model of the Fingelkurts brothers, and Panksepp’s affective neuroscience, arguing that stroboscopic therapy — in synergistic combination with psychedelic therapy — has a central role to play in the psychiatry of the future.

For further information contact me at:

strobonautinfo@gmail.com

Dr Pete Carr
May 2026