First, some clarifications

• "Consciousness", as used here, is not the same as "self-awareness", but rather refers simply to "awareness", and is assumed, in some degree, to be a likely characteristic of all organisms beyond a minimal level of neurological complexity; self-awareness or "self-consciousness" is a different and more complex phenomenon that is, as far as we know, found only in human beings, and only from the time they're able to speak – it's beyond the scope of this outline, but will be addressed in a brief note at the end.
• The term "synthetic consciouness" is used rather than the more expected "artificial consciousness" in order to avoid association with attempts simply to simulate or mimic apparently conscious behavior – this project, instead, aims to reproduce the phenomenon of "awareness" itself.