I am an aphant and cannot visualize anything. However, I routinely have vivid dreams that are full of color, almost in 4K, and I often remember them quite well.

People often point out that some aphants can still have visual dreams. But for hyperphants, is voluntary visualization similar to dreaming?

My dreams are experienced from a first-person POV. I’m not sure whether the images are rendered as I look around, but the experience feels like real life, with a 360-degree field of view, almost as if I’m wearing a VR headset.

Is voluntary visualization or daydreaming like that? Or is it more like a hologram projected into the real world, or something entirely different that is difficult to describe in words?

For example, if you close your eyes and imagine yourself running through a forest, what do you actually experience? Do you see the trees and the leaves rustling around you, or do you see yourself running through the forest? Is the experience 360 degrees, like being immersed in a virtual world, or is it more like looking at a picture or a scene in front of you?

Hi, in this video, there's the physical view (the car driving) and then there's the mind's eye/second screen view (the cinematic city overview).

Does this video represent a good depiction of high-end mental sensory imagery? Mental imagery that is as vivid as real life? Where you can see both views at the same time and give more or less focus to either?

I used to think that a lot of creative videos were nonvisual people experimenting with technology, but now I can see how that in many cases visual people are using technology to share what they see in their minds. Even more, there are people watching who are not just seeing it on a 2D screen but are also having visual thoughts and recreations going on in their minds, and with more focus, as full VR immersion. That is truly fascinating.

Also, from the perspective of this video, if you pause at 1:25, that's what aphantasia looks like without the mental imagery or second screen which is a good contrast from the blended imagery throughout.