Dreaming machines aren't just dreams

During the summer of 2010, Christopher Nolan’s box office hit, Inception, swept through cinemas across the globe, leaving science fiction buffs spell bound. We were in awe at the implications of futuristic lucid dreaming technology. Six years later, as much as we still wonder if the totem in the last scene continues to spin, we also wonder if this movie incepted a ground breaking idea into the minds of innovators.  Lucid dreaming is slowly becoming a key area of focus for technology. You might wonder why? Let’s start off with what lucid dreaming is. Lucid dreaming is a state of dreaming where the dreamer is aware that they’re dreaming and can exert a certain amount of control over their actions and surroundings in the dream. For any sort of technology to really sell it should be satisfying an existing need or improving the quality of our lifestyle. And so the question arises as to how lucid dreaming can be a game changer in multiple spheres of life, other than of course being used illicitly to incept ideas into the minds of corporate heads. Note the following suggestions would not only require technology to induce people into a state of lucid dreaming but also technology that enables people to design a dream environment. Let’s call these people dream designers. Here’s a few possible areas where lucid dream technology could be implemented:-

Nightmare treatment:- One of the most popular suggested uses of lucid dreaming is in the treatment of patients suffering from dream anxiety disorder(aka nightmare disorder). Pressure and trauma are some of the known causes for this disorder. Patients suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress disorder have also experienced bouts of nightmares. The realisation that the patient is in a dream and the ability to control the dream could go a long way in eliminating nightmares.

Gaming:- We see that gaming equipment has gone through a transition from standard hand held controllers to motion sensor equipment and now virtual reality gear. Games are continuing to evolve with the intension of making them feel more life-like. Now imagine if we could put gamers in the gaming world through lucid dreaming technology. This is almost exactly like putting a person in the game. They will be able to literally run around, jump and do everything they usually saw themselves doing on a screen. Lucid dreaming technology could take the experience of gaming to a whole new level.

Entertainment:- Imagine being on-board the titanic during those tense moments where it was about to sink? Or walking along side Will Smith through a desolate city in I am Legend? Or being in the haunted house in Paranormal Activity? Futuristic lucid dreaming technology could achieve all this and more. Perhaps in the future, the production house Dreamworks would actually be working with our dreams. We’ve already seen 2D, 3D and 4D movies, maybe with further advancements in technology the dream realm could become the final frontier of cinema.

Advertising:- Instead of watching celebrities endorse products on screen, you could be holding these products in your hand and experience what it is like to own that product. After all isn’t advertising all about making you feel like you’re missing out on something that could enhance your life? What better way to do that then to show you your life with that product.

There could be a number of implications of lucid dreaming technology. And now that we have had a fantasised about a world where it exists, let’s talk about the practicality of this technology is. Lucid dreaming is sometimes referred to as a state of micro awakenings, what this means is that you are aware that you’re dreaming but not aware enough to jolt yourself awake. There are some small scale implementations of lucid dreaming induction machines that you can find on the internet. Here’s one from instructables.com.

http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Lucid-Dream-Machine/

The design suggested on this webpage is essentially a pair of glasses worn while sleeping. AVR microcontroller pulses LED’s that shine into the eyes about 4 hours into sleep(An approximate measure of time for one to achieve REM sleep, which is when one starts dreaming). The flashing lights will partially awaken the person which could theoretically be sufficient to make the dreamer aware that they’re dreaming. Similar induction devices can be found on Amazon for a price of 200 dollars. The Aurora Dream Enhancement Headband is another lucid dream inducer that can be found in the market.

 It is important to note that all these gadgets can only induce a state of lucid dreaming but if we really wish to implement this in various spheres of life we need to find a way to be able to design the dreamer’s environment which might be a challenge. However, if we manage to pull that off in the next century or so, we could create a world of our dreams. Pun intended.

To all the innovators out there who are working with dream technology, all of us particularly the science fiction buffs are rooting for you to make our dreams a reality.

Sweet dreams, my dear readers.