What comes to your mind when you hear the words lucid dreaming? Think “Inception” or something along that line. A dream-enhancing headband known as Aurora is being developed and is sought to be funded through the Kickstarter platform. Oh yes, you read it right. The popular crowdsourcing platform is supporting more than movies and Kickstarter games.
What is Lucid Dreaming?
Lucid dreaming is a state wherein a person is aware of his or her dream during sleep. It is said to improve waking life with the advantage of lessened nightmares as well as lower levels of stress and anxiety. With the likes of Stephen King and Albert Einstein as examples of people who drew heavy inspiration from their dreams, the makers of Aurora Dream-Enhancing Headband may just be on to something when they say that there is marked advantage in being able to visualize activities during dreams.
The Technology Behind Aurora
The Aurora Headband is more than just a show of lights and sounds although it makes use of both to encourage lucid dreaming. An innovative software measures brainwave and eye movement activity while simultaneously tracking body movements during sleep. The Bluetooth Low Energy technology facilitates connection to other devices. An app allows the user to create his or her own dream signs providing the ability to “direct” the dream experience. Lights and sounds provide the desired environment, easily transporting the dreamer to a beach scene or anywhere else he or she fancies.
Will It Disturb Sleep?
In a typical 8-hour sleep cycle, a person will go through phases of deep and light sleep. All a person needs to do is set the app to wake him up during the light sleep phase. In this way, people wake up refreshed and not groggy. The success of the project would depend on finding an accurate way to detect REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep. The point is having the device give results that will normally take a human sleep expert to provide.
What to Do with Results
The results or the sleep stage information are expected to be available upon waking up. Users will be encouraged to log their dreams in the cloud while the creators further develop their dream enhancement technology. A professional dream reflections team will help dreamers make sense of their dreams.