The British site, The Independent, in a recently published article, notes the increase in public interest in lucid dreaming over the past year. For example, the query on Google “how to lucid dream” has seen a growth in popularity by 90%. The supply on the gadgets market is also growing in direct proportion. The request for lucid dreaming masks is up by 250% compared to 2019.
This begs the question, are such gadgets really effective? And is there an easy way to induce lucid dreams? Researchers analyzed the device market to come up with a conclusion. And here is the takeaway: since the advent of devices such as the DreamLight and NovaDreamer, released back in the 1990s, not much has changed.
Typically, lucid dreaming devices are equipped with a sensor to detect the stage of REM sleep. If detected, the dreamer receives a signal that he is in a dream – using light indicators, sounds, or tactile stimuli. There are plenty of such devices on the market, including Aurora, Remee, REM-Dreamer, ZMax, Neuroon, iBand, LucidCatcher, and Aladdin, to mention a few. All of the above gadgets are afflicted by the same common problem – the lack of accuracy in determining the onset of REM sleep, which is why the devices do not work properly or reliably in most cases. Some of them have not been subjected to scientific testing, and most importantly, none of these devices can be considered completely safe.
For example, LucidCatcher and Aladdin use transcranial brain stimulation, which, according to recent reports, can cause unintended consequences. Others use lithium batteries, which can overheat or explode next to the users’ heads. “In terms of devices able to reliably induce lucid dreaming straight out of the box, I would say there is nothing at the moment,” – comments one of the authors of the article, neuropsychologist Achilleas Pavlou. He encourages users to be wary of promises to induce lucid dreams easily or without using special techniques.
The article was published in 2019 in Frontiers in Neuroscience magazine.
