Based on the assumptions that unconscious processes are related to consciousness and that there are degrees of consciousness, we propose a strategy that has the potential to further the understanding of human consciousness and elicit knowledge for the development of Artificial Consciousness. This strategy is based on a simulation of an open ended environment of medium complexity and the expectation is that such an approach will allow for easy experimentation, hypothesis making and testing, and lead to insights to the conscious and unconscious processes of the mind.

The above approach takes into account computation and engineering theories and practices. It also relies on expertise in other fields such as psychology, neurology and philosophy. Although these latter fields are concerned mainly with the workings of the human mind, their theories, findings, and speculations on this subject are an invaluable as a source of knowledge.

The fundamental concept used in this work is that of Internal Models, i.e., the mind not only creates inner models to represent its inner workings, but also to represent the environment with which it has to interact. The above assumption is the basis for the architecture of the proposed simulator.