Transception: Designing Technology with Compassion

Does seeing more of the world through technology lead to greater care for it?

This question lies at the heart of Transception–a pioneering design philosophy developed by futurist and psychologist Dr. Dana Klisanin in 2007. Introduced in her foundational academic paper, Transception: The Dharma of Evolutionary Guidance Media, the framework was created as a response to Roy Ascott’s cyberception, which emphasized the expansion of human perception through digital networks.

But perception alone, Klisanin argued, is not enough.

Transception challenges creators to fuse expanded perception with compassionate action—embedding empathy, ethics, and care into the core of digital and immersive media. From virtual worlds to gamified systems, Transception remains a guiding force in designing technologies that uplift human consciousness and serve planetary well-being. From virtual worlds to gamified systems, Transception is a guiding force in our EGM Framework and Narrative Impact Engine™ — informing our development of immersive storytelling, ethical media, and human-centered innovation — especially as AI reshapes how we engage with the world.


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Klisanin, D. (2007). Transception: The Dharma of Evolutionary Guidance Media. In J. Wilby (Ed.), Proceedings of the 51st Annual Conference of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. Tokyo, Japan.
To perceive more is not to care more. Transception asks us to infuse perception with compassion.
— Dr. Dana Klisanin