The Lucid Dream Machine

This is part of both the "let it glow" challenge and the robot challenge, so please vote for either/or category that you see fitting if you enjoyed/liked this instructable. Remember, voting is different than giving it a good rating.

First off, this is a Collaboration between me Guyfrom7up and Gmoon

Gmoon did all of the programming, debugging, etc.

Guyfrom7up did all of the hardware, PCB, etc.

What is Lucid Dreaming? Lucid Dreaming is when you are sleeping and dreaming and that you are aware that your are asleep and that you are dreaming, yet you don't wake up. This can be great, giving you full control of your dreams, jumping off of buildings, going into space, whatever your mind can create.

The Lucid Dream Machine is a pair of glasses that you wear while you are sleeping. About 4 hours into your sleep the AVR microcontroller pulse LEDs that shine through your eyelids. This half wakes you up. The flashing lights helps you become aware (in your sleep) that your are sleeping and dreaming, in doing so you become more likely to be able to control your dreams.

Our Collaboration give you the Lucid Dream Machine.

Sorry, but to watch a video you will have to download it, for some reason the video won't work on both youtube and metacafe.
(gmoon: I tweaked the video and uploaded to my account... I need to do this for all my videos, also.)

Step 1: Supplies

In order to build the device you need:

1x ATtiny13v AVR Microcontroller
2x LEDs (color of your choice, we used red because it works at low voltage, shines through eyelids well, and is cheap)
2x Resistors (value of your choice)
1x SPST or SPDT switch (it's only used as a power switch, so it doesn't matter)
1x Normally off momentary switch
1x Lithium 3volt Watch Battery (we used a CR2032)
1x Lithium Watch Battery Holder (we used a CR2032 holder)
Some way of mounting the device to your face, such as glasses).

Wire
Solder
Ways of making a PCB or just Prefboard (up to you, we used a custom PCB using toner transfer and Eagle)
An AVR programmer

Comments

[Morph6]

what compiler you use?
because i want to simulate the mask

[Morph6]

Have you got the PCB Schematics of this circuit?

[geo909]

Thanks for the nice instructable, I'll probably try it myself. Any comments as of the battery life? How many nights should it hold, more or less?

[goldenshuttle]

Althu it needs some work to keep the eyes safe. But the idea is brilliant, good job guyfrm7up..

[V0R73X]

CAN WE PLEASE JUST ENJOY THE INSTRUCTABLE AND NOT COMMENT ANYMORE ABOUT HOW DANGEROUS CAN IT BE??
We all are humans, we can make the decisions of our own. Each individual determines if this instructable is dangerous or not on his own.
So let's stop the pointless argument and comment about the flaws of the project and the experiences of people who've actually used it!

[abran5]

you should make an instructable on how to add sound cues

[Fik]

How do you keep from poking your eyes with the LEDs if you turn face down on the pillow? (I do that often. I mean turning face down, not poking my eyes)

[acoleman3]

makes me wonder if you could attach sun glass lenses to the outside and drill holes in them just big enough for the led body to slide through. then it'd be a matter of placing a dot or two of super glue on the other side where the led shoulder touches the lens.

[acoleman3]

it might be a better idea to us a red sharpi marker to locate the eye holes. the red will show up on the outside for you to use as a cutting guide and im *sure* it'd be safer.

[falloutman19]

holy crap it worked did it last night and was skeptical but it was soooooooooo ooooooooo oooooo awesome

[Build4343]

If anyone has tried this please tell us what happened to insure that its safe!!

[bowmaster]

Who cares if it's safe? It's science!!!

[Delo97]

Are you GLaDOS or what? ^_^

[bowmaster]

A bit.

[Delo97]

Anways, I think that the prgress of Science can't be stopped because of dangers too!

[Bigev]

What's the worst that could happen? The mask could fall off and choke you i guess, but otherwise it's risk free.

[M4industries]

Maybe epileptic fits. I dunno

[Kryptonite]

The lights aren't that bright of flashy.

[haunted_lady]

 As a person with epilepsy any blinking light causes this. If you read in the agreement with Yahoo within the email account even they tell you there is chance of epileptic seizures. Just surfing your inbox can cause this. Best to not offer an opinion on something unless you know what you are talking about when this could cause harm. ANd really you could reprogram your mind with this device this type of stuff should not be allowed to be on this site. There is a reason there is an FDA even though they are not perfect.
You could cause yourself to be stuck in certain parts of sleep patterns and not fully get out like when you are driving.

[suspect13]

I don't want to resurrect a dead flame war, but I feel obligated to correct misinformation when I stumble across it.

It's a bad idea to take someone's credentials at face value on the internet. An anonymous person who claims to hold a master's degree in psychology could just be a cat lady who took Inception a little too seriously. I'm not attacking haunted_lady's credentials, I'm just giving a cautionary note.

Fact: the percentage of people who have photosensitive epilepsy, who will be triggered by lights blinking slowly, is extremely low. A television is more dangerous than this instructable, and televisions are available for mainstream sale. I'm sure you aren't organizing a door to door campaign to ban the use of decorative lights around the holidays.

These lights are not going to hypnotize you into sleep patterns that catch back up with you in the afternoon when you're driving home from work. At worst, they may contribute to incidents of sleepwalking in individuals who are predisposed to it. OTC sleeping pills are just as dangerous, though.

[Bigev]

I respect your input, and give due respect to your epileptic knowledge, but on the subject of this not being on the site I must disagree. Instructables is an open community of makers where any idea, no matter how unique or dangerous, is respected. A bit of discretion must be exercised when a project may be potentially dangerous, but Instructables usually leaves that up to the individual readers.

In short:
If you know you have epilepsy, then you should know better than to strap blinking lights to your face. Further, I don't believe that it is possible to get stuck in a particular stage of sleep.

TL;DR
Use common sense, I want proof of mind-stickage

[haunted_lady]

You ever hear of hypnosis? Well if you go into other states of consciousness and are not properly taken out of those states by a professional person who is trained well you can slip back in said altered state. I have actually a degree actually a Master's degree in psychology so I think I know what I am speaking about .
Use common sense wow and how would common sense have anything to do with being educated about subjects. I love the internet everyone thinks they know everything or they can look it up on WIKI..lets just close down all all the schools and call everyone equal because they have common sense.
Mind stickage  you sound stupid and frankly some people may not realize ( and now I am speaking to you for instance ) what this machine could do and so they could promote seizures and get up the next day and have a car accident and kill someone. So this isn't a trite subject so grow up.

[sculptur]

"lets just close down all all the schools and call everyone equal because they have common sense." <-- Haunted_lady, could you please explain this to me, are you saying that people should not be treated equal? Also the tone you are putting off sounds a little condescending does it not? Thank you for your time, Sculpur.

[StickStoneBone]

I'd like to make a few sterile observations:

1.  I find it highly ironic that the 'Highly Trained Psychology Major' is calling other people stupid. As any educated 'Highly Trained Psychology Major' knows... calling others 'stupid' causes most people to stop listening, and stop caring. This is natural human behavior.

2.  It's also ironic that the 'Highly Trained Psychology Major' doesn't use proper spelling, grammar, or syntax.

[haunted_lady]

 I never called him stupid I said he was acting stupid.
I never said I was highly trained. I admit I do not use my best writing skills on the internet, if I did most of you folks would not understand what you were reading. Hell I used my worst skills there and you did ot understand what you were reading you still messed it up  did you not.  SO there you go my point exactly!

[carlos177567]

I are a maojr in hallucinogenz and dose have wors effecs on yuo

[haunted_lady]

Wow what language is that?

[StickStoneBone]

Haunted_Human - What he's doing is deliberately colloquial. Here's a definition for you straight from the precious dictionary -

Colloquial: conversational, informal referring to types of speech not on a formal level. Refers to a style used in the oral exchange of ideas, opinions, etc.: an easy conversational style, without formality, without strict attention to set forms, unceremonious: an informal manner of speaking; it describes the ordinary, everyday language of cultivated speakers.

I'm wondering if you're capable of leaving positive comments... You seem to enjoy hurting others.

[StickStoneBone]

I have just spent the past five minutes laughing.

I LOVE YOU. Aren't you cute.

[Kryptonite]

I take back my comment on the siezure thing, but please do not bag out the author for posting something he has done and wishes to share. It's a nice piece of electronics, and the science behind it is also interesting.



I've an idea; if you really want to continue this, then how about we swap sides of the argument? That way I'll really see your side of things, even if I don't have a full degree or understanding.

[haunted_lady]

(removed by author or community request)

[Kryptonite]

Fair enough, just try take into account that the author really worked hard to get what ever they achieved.

[Bigev]

I value your input, and yes it is true that the SHOULD aspect of making is often times overlooked, but I do not appreciate being bashed. I invent words like "stickage" to use in lieu of other more proper words to give a more accurate view of how I actually talk, but if this bothers you let's talk straight.

In your retort, you called me stupid. I assure you i am not stupid, merely uninformed. There is a crucial semantic difference between those two. I am in fact attending a University for an electrical engineering degree, and as such the matters of psychosis is a bit out of my area.

Also in the aforementioned response, I quote "Ever hear of hypnosis?" Why yes, I have. BUT, like a large number of people on here we are not intimately familiar with all of the possible side effects of improper waking.

You are obviously passionate about this subject, so take a minute and properly educate us unversed masses with a mature and documented response. References would be nice, as they lend credibility as opposed to claims by a faceless internet person.

Doubt is easy, disproving doubt is difficult.

[haunted_lady]

 First of all I said you sound stupid.
Secondly now you want references before you said use common sense.
And I am sorry it is hard to take a man seriously who is wearing a cream puff on his head seriously. 
If you are going to school why don't you make use of the library there ( no not the internet) and look up something. Try to research a subject not familiar to you.
I do this all the time. I should not have to hold your hand on this.
And I have given you examples when you first said you thought the "science behind his invention" was interesting.
What science would that be funny how he showed no references? Yet you swallowed it hook line in sinker you need to use your common sense it seems.
Sorry if I am a little tired of the sheep mentality on the internet " wow shiny cool" and no one thinks down the road...
I would give you links to things to look at but I read real books.

[StickStoneBone]

I... Think... You... Need...
Less "crazy."

And it's not a Cream Puff, it's a chicken. And it's glorious.

[Bigev]

Thank you!
I love it to bits, by the way.

[haunted_lady]

 Why don't you worry about your website instead of  worrying about me...it doesn't work..lame

[StickStoneBone]

My site currently works very well. Due to economic constraints I will unfortunately have to shut down my server... More is the pity..

I apologize for calling you "Crazy."

Just a reminder, the comment option is intended for feedback on this instructable, not for attacking other members or smearing my website.

I send love.

[tori1012]

lol you rock <3

[Bigev]

Alright, alright. Calm down. The flame war is over. I cede.

I apologize for playing devil's advocate the whole time, and we both have made decent points.Your research point is a very valid one, for example, and if I or anyone else felt so inclined that would be the proper course of action.

Have a nice day.

[haunted_lady]

 What decent point did you make I missed that.
You made the point that people that know whey have Epilepsy should avoid this  or whatever. Well considering the awesome health insurance Americans have I am sure you will be glad to know I was in my late 20's before mine was discovered. 
We are a Wiki nation everyone wants to contribute because they think they know something even when they do not. We all want to pretend we are somebody. No one wants to be the unknown guy in the corner in the chicken hat. In this arena this could get dangerous and could cause someone to do things dangerous... it isn't like we are building soap boxy derby cars.
Did you yourself not hear the story of the Japanese videos games pulled form the shelves because of the severe seizures kids were going into?

[guitarmonk15]

You are right! Let's censor the internet! Let's be Chinese Communists! YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( I have nothing against the Chinese, just the way their government is set up.)

[haunted_lady]

Where is censorship mentioned nowhere. I hate to break it to you but everyone in the world's opinion is just that not a fact and some people do not know the difference and that can be dangerous. That's why it is not legal for people just to start making things and mass producing them out of their house it is called PRODUCT TESTING. You know to see IF IT IS DANGEROUS>>>>>>

[guitarmonk15]

"We are a Wiki nation everyone wants to contribute because they think they know something even when they do not." I was responding with a sarcastic solution.

[Kanellos]

So, haunted_lady, you really don't quit, do you?

[carlos177567]

haunted_lady, I'm surprised you have the courage to breath, many people have choked that way. I'm surprised you eat, people choke that way too. And the likely statistic is that most bones are broken while doing something active. So honestly, I'm surprised you do anything more than exist.

[tori1012]

I think you are smart. However, you are not smart enough to go preach somewhere else to strangers in person. Gosh lady. Just gosh. Yes video games are bad. But not just Japanese ones. Don't be so biased.

[haunted_lady]

Google Japanese Video Games Epilepsy. I am not biased. This is an event that actually happened in Japan my dear. Don't make me sound racist. I am relating not gossip, not something I would post on my Facebook BUT A REAL EVENT IN HISTORY.

[TheParadox]

You are very arrogant, and you lust for control of the information on the internet bothers the hell out of me. Go back to Russia and take your socialism with you.

[haunted_lady]

I am so glad you know the difference between communism and socialism. What makes me arrogant because you feel bad about yourself and I don't.
Do you know what a paradox even is without Wiki??? Controlling information my goodness wow...that has nothing to do with anything don;t confuse me with your Mom.
I cannot build cars and decide to start selling them to people because I think they are great. They have to be tested that has nothing to do with controlling information that has to do with common sense.

[Build4343]

me? :(

[TheParadox]

Of course not you. "Haunted_Lady" The communist with the desire to censor the internet.

[camelstrike]

Lol you dont even know the meaning of that word my fellow american brainwashed kid, and haunted lady, wiki rules, the books you read and have on your shelf I saved them on my C Drive on pdf format because im green. PS. TheParadox, socialism and communism are not the same just like capitalism and democracy.

[haunted_lady]

Your "greeness"of saving things on your computer and all the other computers on in the is world caused a demand so high for power because of constant internet usage that countries all over the world are addicted to nuclear power.
We were better off with paper alone people still print out everything..
The Sierra Club is a nice place to visit maybe have a look at their website.

[StickStoneBone]

Hey hey... c'mon. Let's be nice. If you feel the need to define the differences of Socialism vs Communism as compared to Capitalist vs Democracy you can do so without calling people: Kid, Brainwashed, etc. There's nothing wrong with standing up for what you believe, or your opinion. When it gets outright insulting... people get hurt. This may be the "InterWebs" but there are still people at the end of it.

[camelstrike]

Im sorry I got carried away, sometimes it just happens, bad day I guess. What I worte is a lilttle offensive, didnt mean to. I hope you can understand.

[watson21995]

Just gtfo of the internet if you don't like it this much. Jeez.

[haunted_lady]

I have been off the internet for a long time that is why I have not seen these comments... I actually travel you know air. People are getting RICKETS from lack of sunshine because of internet addiction this is insane. All for what for people to update their fb? This website is useful most are not.

[StickStoneBone]

Please... Do us all a favor. Continue traveling on your crusades and leave the interwebs alone. We're safer with you out in the world doing "God Knows What," you're comments however "are shot from the hip" and lack a cohesion rarely found even on the internets.

[StickStoneBone]

Who says he's unknown? I know him, (or of him) his name is Bigev, and he has a CHICKEN HAT, a more noble hat has never been made.

Just another reminder, the comment option is intended for feedback on this instructable, not for attacking other members. A little kindness will get you farther, with more people who are willing to side with you, and expound on your example.

As always, I send love.

[Kryptonite]

That was a cream puff?!?

That's awesome! 

[Bigev]

No, it's my chicken hat. Look it up! Make one!

[Kryptonite]

I looked it up!

I really feel like making it, but no one in my family / friend group would recognize the awesomeness... :'(

[Bigev]

Introduce them to the awesome power of the chicken hat.

The power of poultry compels you...
The power of poultry compels you...
The power of poultry compels you...

[Kryptonite]

Maybe for next years "Dare to be Different Day".

[mr have nothing]

Hahaha this is a long argument

[PaulMakesThings]

I know this has been controversial, but I'm going to try it, I've been playing with lucid dreaming, and still can only induce it 1 out of 20 tries, but it's so cool when you can.

[Stephy_The_Great]

I suck at controlling my dreams! One thing that always happens in my dreams is I need to pee, so I hit some kind of public stall... but it is TOO public. Like the stall door will be too short on the top, so people can clearly see me from the stomach up while Im trying to wee. Or the toilets themselves will be messed up, or dirty. I just want to urinate!!! If I could control my dreams, I would never have to take a wizz. Also... I cant fly in my dreams. I try, but all I can accomplish is some kind of floating thing. I have to run and jump really hard to accomplish this. I'll float for a bit then start landing, so I have to take another running jump. This is my dream power. Its kinda like super mario after he gets the feather, but lamer.

[khol44]

i have those same types of dreams. except the toilets are on fire or there are no doors on the stalls.

[BGreenHVAC]

Lucid dreams are a sign of intelligence. I used to have them all of the time. Now I have a hard time remembering my dreams. I have read about how very intelligent people can remember their dream after they wake up and "turn on" the same dream when they go back to sleep. I have only been able to do this twice and only if I go back to sleep soon after waking up. I have heard of people who can get out of bed, eat or go to the bathroom, and resume their dream when they go back to bed. After I get up, I lose the ability to resume a dream.
Has anyone accomplished this?

[Javin007]

The peeing thing:

This is you REALLY needing to pee in real life.  However, your subconscious knows that peeing the bed is a bad thing, so it "blocks" you from peeing in your dreams.  If you were ever actually able to take that pee in your dreams, you would wet the bed.

As for the running and jumping flying thing, I sincerely believe that this is somehow related to our genetics.  Many people describe the very same dream (I have it often, and it's one of my favorites).  In mine, if I can keep my concentration, I can use a "flapping" motion to get higher, then when high enough, can use the speed from "diving" to maneuver as if I were a bird.  If I lose my concentration, though, I crash.  I wonder if deep in our DNA we're still related to birds closely enough that this feeling is precisely what flying really feels like?

[TheParadox]

Wow you just described the feeling I have had before (Flying) amazing....

[Drakeler]

I have the same experience :D Lots of fun. In one of my dream I jumepd off of my couch in a dive and floated back up in the four feet of air between me and the ground, was cool and kind of like the dodo bird cheat in GTA:Vice City :P

[SolomonsJim]

Douglas Adams (author of the 4-book Hitchhiker's Guide "trilogy") once said that the secret of flying was to throw yourself forcefully to the ground...and miss.

:-)

[berwin]

We are making a film about Lucid Dreaming and would love your input!
www.thedreamed.com
and our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dreamed/115872545103362

[NaturalCrafter]

Sometimes while taking a nap on a day off on a relaxing day, your more likely to lucid dream and be more aware. If your physically tired, its less likely to happen as the body has to go into repair mode of muscle tissue. The concept interested me.

[xelalex]

I've controlled a dream before it was awesome! But it was very hard not to wake up knowing I was asleep!

[tailsdollart]

omg the tailsdoll is real

[ALogan97]

im gonna make this out of lego mindstorms

[phat-z]

where can i buy an ATtiny13v AVR Microcontroller and i have no idea where i'm suppose to solder anything to the circuit board because i dont understand that sketch on step 4. plz help and thank you.

[joeny1980]

Than you can't make this :) You need experience and hardware to program a microcontroller.

[knex_mepalm]

I dreamt of flying or tried to and I found myself downstairs in a funny position with my backside up top and my hand nowhere to be found. Any, my mum says that I jumped off the stairs with the weird mask. Anyway, is there a way I can stop this.

[plainlabelbooks]

This is a great start. Next step is to coordinate two or more lucid dream machines with computer connections and allow very simple communication between dreamers; a multi-player dream game, if you will.

 

The ingredients for multi-player lucid dream connectivity are:

 

1.    A lucid dream cuing device such as a dream mask or audio device with dreamer response detection and interpretation.

2.    Computer software (LD program) that has two-way, real-time communication with the cuing device.

3.    Computer software (LD program extension) that has two-way, real-time communication with a remote host site.

4.    A multi-player host website program that receives input from the LD programs and issues messages to them.

 

Here are a few scenarios that could be fun for dreamers in a multi-player environment:

 

1.    Two players register and log onto the LD multi-player website, selecting the other player to communicate with that night and which player is to be the guide player (first dreamer cued). The respective local LD programs monitor the eye movements during the sleep of the players and upon REM detection send a message to the website that the respective dreamer is in REM; the website host program waits for both players to reach REM, then the host sends a command to the local LD software to signal the guide dreamer via audio/visual cue that she is dreaming. When (if) she becomes lucid, this lucid dreamer now signals (via eye movement) the mask/program to stop cueing and, in addition, send a message to the host program to notify the other dreamer that he is dreaming by audio/visual cue (could even be a pre-recorded audio cue in the guide’s own voice). The signal to the recipient’s to become lucid is now coming directly from the guide dreamer and may carry more meaning than a neutral cue (and lots more fun). For those folks with an interest in mutual dreaming, this may prove also to be a useful initiator for such a dream, coordinating the timing for lucid dream sharing.        

 

2.    A lucid dream race: players log on and join the race, then go to sleep.  The host site waits until all the respective LD local programs indicate REM state for all the players (hopefully at some point all REM’s coincide). The host site sends commands to all the local programs to cue all the dreamers more or less at the same time. The dreamers, upon becoming lucid, signal to stop the cue and, in addition, send a message to the host site that they are lucid.   The winner of the race is recorded on the host site and the players can view the results--just for fun, of course, but competition can have a strong motivational effect, as many psychologists know.

 

3.    This multi-player scenario would require a mask with various colored lights or audio cues and dreamer feedback variability.  The dreamers, upon both becoming lucid, signal different eye movements to the other dreamer (via the local LD programs’ connection to the host website) which result in varied cues, the meaning of which is agreed upon beforehand when the players register for this ‘game.’ A “hello” signal from one dreamer can result in a ‘blue’ cue to the other; an “I am flying” signal from the other dreamer could result in a ‘yellow’ cue to the first, and so on. Audio messages could be used as well.

 

4.    Masks or other cuing devices with multiple cuing options such as varied colors could also be used to enable more than two dreamers to send messages to the entire group in the same session. Dreamers sign up for the night’s session and assign themselves a color cue or audio cue. As the dreamers become lucid, the host software sends that dreamer’s cue sign to the rest of the group. A dreamer, for example, recognizes the ‘red’ cue as “Mike has just joined us” and the ‘blue’ cue as “Sally’s lucid now too.”          

 

While the lucid dreamer communication described here is very rudimentary, the exciting thing is that such dream games as outlined above are technologically feasible right now. We are at the point with inter-dream communication that Alexander Bell was when he spoke “Mister Watson, come here! I need you!" And we saw where that led.

 

[JoeMG]

What if the dream gets all crazy with murders, monsters, etc. and i am still consious but out of control? If i am concious and i die in my dream will the stimuli from my dream kill me? Because i heard that like if i were to fall out of bed while having a falling dream my brain would take the stimuli and say that i died, so i would die? Yes obviously my main concern woulde be not dying. And do you think its just dream stimulus, outside stimulus or both that would kill someone? Sorry i told my friend then he told me about the falling thing so i am checking

[dkfa]

Yes, if that happens, you can control it. Just think "STOP" or "Freeze Time" ect. BUT. Since it's a lucid dream, you can wake up by your self.

[DrCoolSanta]

Doesn't the dream stimulus work even if the dream is not lucid?: Most of my lucid dreams have been natural, and I don't remember any deaths or falling down during those dreams so I can't confirm this...

However, falling down is a recurrent dream I faced during adolescence, I remember they said it meant something... Anyway, I'm still alive but again it wasn't lucid.

I would believe that knowing that you are dreaming only makes it less possible for you to die, after all you know that what you are looking at is not real...
And think of it this way, you get hit by a bullet, you don't die until you have lost a lot of blood, an organ stops functioning etc... So I doubt that could kill you, and I don't think you can keep dreaming after being hit by a bullet or knives w/e

[JoeMG]

Yeah okay so i wont die... but is there a way to wake up from a lucid dream before i build this. Do i just like scream wake up in my dream or die/commit suicide and the shock will wake me up. This isnt because i still think that this might kill me but just i case things get too weird and i want out.

[Dreistein]

 I HAVE AN EASYER WAY ALL YOU DO IS MAKE A PAPER MASK CUT OUT THE EYES AND PUT YOUR HEAD UNDER THE BLANKET PUT ON A LAMP AT SOME POINT IN YOUR SLEEP YOU WILL KICK OF THE BLANKET AND THE LIGHT SHINES THREW THE EYE LIDS

[Crakur]

I HAVE AN EASIER WAY TO TYPE IT INVOLVES TURNING CAPS LOCK OFF KTHNX

[super_genius]

you can get a good one from radio shack. you can get all of this stuff from radioshack

[unseen wombat]

I never saw a radio shack that carried microcontrollers. Now if you want cell phones or electronic toys that break after a month of use, they've got you covered.

Radio shack has become such a waste.

[hintss]

transistors, diodes, and other small electronic parts, BOEbots from parallax, a small number of accesories for the BOEbot, adjustable wall warts, small ICs (logic gates and timers), knobs, switches, buzzers, LEDs, and connectors don't count as geat products of theirs?

Anyway, since the local one has BOEs, I'd assume they came with the chip...

[unseen wombat]

Radio Shack shill detected. But okay, I guess they do have the basic stamp. This Instructable used the Atmel AVR though. No radio shack I've ever seen has that. And yes, they do have a small assortment of transistors and some LED's and switches and passives, however, they're all outrageously overpriced. I can get 10 LED's from digikey for what I pay for ONE at Radio Shack.

I don't think anyone who builds electronics stuff would disagree that Radio Shack is not what it used to be as far as components. Some don't even carry PC boards or IC sockets anymore. And the employees I've encountered are the stupidest hacks off the street they could find. I was building a Joule Thief a couple years ago and I asked one for a ferrite toroid and she looked at me like I had just asked for a jinglehopper goobersnatch. I thought, "Okay, she's supposed to be an 'expert,' but that's kind of an obscure item, I guess," But then I asked if they had inductors and she didn't know what that was either! But I bet she would have known if I'd have asked what kind of RC cars they had, or what cell phone plans I could sign up for there.

So yeah, Radio Shack = worthless, unless you absolutely have to have something right now, and you don't mind paying 10 times a reasonable price for it and don't expect anyone to help you find it.

[XOIIO]

For some reason this reminds me of Itakian Dynamite. Maybe it's the music.

[bsrubin]

I c-founded a company that develops a sleep monitor that can detect REM, Light, Deep,  and Wake using brainwaves.  www.myZeo.com

Its a lightweight headband.  Would be an interesting integration with this concept....  thoughts?

Ben

[hobbles]

Probably using tighter fitting eye wear may help it from falling of your head such as goggles painted black on the inside. Also since you are using a microcontroller already maybe you should have it start closer to a REM cycle maybe try having it wait a couple hours till your in a deeper sleep. That would give you time to fall asleep and maybe get past the part of tossing and turning maybe due to the flashing lights in the stages of lighter sleep. Gonna give it a try with my own spin on it and may post it up some time.

[akashmash]

could you attach an led to the headphones on your mobile/cell phone and then set the alarm for a rem period. that way you could hear your own voice message telling you that you are dreaming and also have flashing light cues to the beat of your voice or alarm

[firesketch]

Yeah, this could work. I've got a vbs program to read me a message at 3:20am, though it hasn't worked yet :/

I put this in notepad:
   Dim userInput
   userInput = ("You are in a dream. You are in a dream. You are in a dream.")

   Set Sapi = Wscript.CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice")
   Sapi.speak userInput

Saved it as "LucidDreaming.vbs" and then put it in my scheduled tasks. :)

[Bullet Proof Person]

ok basically this is just flashing lights right.....so wudnt it be easier to just ask your frnd or some1 to turn on a flashlight nd flash it infront of u  wen u fall asleep...........^___- .............thi way u dnt have to worry about it coming off or u taking it offf unconsioucly

[firesketch]

You need to be in deep sleep, REM, which kicks in at about 3am. You're lucky if your friends will wait up for you : D

[temp]

Why doesn't anyone smile when taking a picture of themselves?

[mrdepo96]

 because then they wouldn't look like zombies.

[guyfrom7up]

cause then I'd look like a creeper lol

[temp]

lol

[oyuriy]

Hi,
Great job. Is it possible to get code in C with comments for a beginner programmer, posted here or by email? To improve, modify, etc...
Thanks.

[guyfrom7up]

for some reason, as of recently, instructables took out all of the returns in the posted c code.  If you highlight the one line and paste it somewhere it looks like this:
/********************************************* lucid13.c V 0.2b Lucid dreaming device Software by gmoon (Doug Garmon) Hardware by guyfrom7up (Brian _)* Chip type : ATtiny13* Clock frequency : Internal clock 1.2 Mhz*********************************************/#include <avr/io.h>#include <inttypes.h>#include <avr/interrupt.h>#include <avr/sleep.h>#define F_CPU 1200000UL // 1.2 MHz default clock// ramping fx increments#define PWM_VAL 4#define TRANS_VAL 6// the overall pulse width and delay between pulses#define MACRO_WIDTH 1500#define MACRO_GAP 1500// mode#define MODE_WAITING 0#define MODE_DREAM 1#define WAIT_LENGTH 1#define BUTTON PB4 // button#define LED _BV(PB1) | _BV(PB2) // LED outputvolatile uint16_t macropulse;volatile uint16_t waitstate;// IRQ vectorISR (TIM0_OVF_vect){ static uint8_t modeflag; static uint8_t pwm; static uint16_t transition; switch (modeflag) { case MODE_DREAM: if(macropulse < MACRO_WIDTH) { pwm += PWM_VAL; if (pwm > transition) PORTB &= ~(LED); // turn off LEDs else PORTB |= LED; // turn on if (!pwm) transition += TRANS_VAL; } // delay between pulses else { pwm = transition = 0; PORTB &= ~(LED); // turn off if (macropulse > (MACRO_GAP + MACRO_WIDTH)) macropulse = 0; } macropulse++; break; case MODE_WAITING: macropulse++; if (!macropulse) waitstate++; if (waitstate >= WAIT_LENGTH) { modeflag = MODE_DREAM; TCCR0B = _BV(CS00); // new prescaler } break; }}// init the IRQvoid irqinit (void){ // timer scaler value TCCR0B |= (_BV(CS02) | _BV(CS00)); // Enable timer overflow irq TIMSK0 = _BV (TOIE0); sei (); // IRQ on}int main(void){ uint8_t userflag; /* INITIALIZE */ DDRB &= ~_BV(DDB4); // clear bit, input fire-button PORTB |= _BV(BUTTON); // set bit, enable pull-up resistor DDRB |= _BV(DDB1) | _BV(DDB2); // set output //PORTB &= ~(LED); // set bits off // Check if button is pressed when powering up... if(!(PINB & _BV(BUTTON))) userflag = 1; // init the IRQ irqinit(); // turn on LED, // delay before checking user input again while(macropulse < 14) { PORTB |= (LED); } PORTB &= ~(LED); // button still pressed? Enter immediate mode... if(!(PINB & _BV(BUTTON)) && userflag) waitstate = WAIT_LENGTH; // place the CPU into idle mode set_sleep_mode (SLEEP_MODE_IDLE); sleep_mode (); // infinite loop--the IRQ does all the work... while(1) { } return(0);}

unforrtunately instructables took out the returns, i'll see if i can fix it

[guyfrom7up]

yeah, i tried fixing it, it's not working, i'll try and attach a file

[Drakeler]

I hate in some of my dreams, I'm trying to punch someone or something and I can't cause it feels like my arms are made of cement or something equally heavy... it sucks cause I had one dream, some guy was stealing my car and I tried to hit him. He just laughed... :(

[zascecs]

Perfect for falling assslleeeeep......
_zzz....

[thebboy]

When I dream, I dream in the third person. It's kind of weird. And it sucks when I die in my dreams because then I have to watch myself die. But I'm always, like, reincarnated in a totally different place. Has anyone else ever died in their sleep?

[Imptheshrimp]

yes, and for me it is the most bizarre and scary thing in the universe. I realize what will happen about 60 seconds before and I instantly realize its a dream and I cant wake up and I have to go through with this incredibly horrifying sequence of events, that cause this strange pain, that lead to my unfortunate demise.

[justinl909]

i hate those dreams_{one time i had a dream i was in my back yard and there was barb wire around the fence and all of a sudden,jason from the friday 13 movies was trying to kill me with his machete i knew i was dreaming so it was really hard to wake up and it was like i could really feel the pain of getting cut...}
i feel ya pain.....

[zoltzerino]

If i get tickled in a dream it is TORTURE.

[icepick244]

lol, really? thats awesome.

[thebboy]

wow, that was deep. i never go through a horrifiying sequence of events, i always just kind of die and am like "well, uh, dang."

[zleebme]

prolly because your thinkng o well 10 secs till respawn lol

[MudoskiStudios]

lol

[101yummYYummy101]

Ok, this is really wierd. I had a dream once that I was walking down an alleyway, and suddenly I heard this ringing noise and I was wearing a watch, and I couldnt stop the ringing. It just kept going. Suddenly, I woke up it and my clock alarm was going off, and it was 7:00 when I set the alarm for 6:55 but it felt like hours that I walked down the street and I was for some reason screaming for help like I was dying but noone came. Odd, huh. Surprised that didnt wake me up, is that what this is like?

[FooL111394]

There is no sense of time, in a dream state and such. Time is the measurement of the earth rotating around the sun. The earth doesn't revolve around time, but only measures.

[101yummYYummy101]

The screaming part was in my DREAM not in real life.

[blckscab]

When i was around 14, i found it hard to get to sleep because i had nightmares each night. Dunno if theres a name for that or whatever. But eventually, my fear of falling asleep kept me awake enough to start having lucid dreams. So im guessing this little contraption would do the same thing, but without the fear of sleep.
The lucid dreams actually helped me get over my fear as i was able to change what happened (and evidently, i didnt wake up in a cold sweat)
They stopped after a year or so, and now i sleep like anyone else =P
Sounds a bit odd, but thats my input =P

[MacLean]

Lol my nightmares suck, i always have to watch a friend die and i cant move or close my eye. Its weird, i cant even wake up or look away in nightmares. I guess im not good and lucid dreaming

[uberchoob]

I hear children's nightmares can be cause by drinking orange juice. I guess I used to toss and turn all night, but then my mumsie stopped giving me OJ and I stopped tossing and turning....? I think they call them night terrors?

[oniman7]

Actually, orange juice can help lucid dreams.

[uberchoob]

So maybe I was just a really demented kid, and the dreams were made more real by good ol' OJ XD

[agent]

Well that'll explain why I had one last night! I had half a gallon of orange juice before going to bed! (I felt bad, orange juice makes me feel better :P )

[AntiThesis]

Thanks for the instructions! I'll be trying this tonight and will letcha know how it goes :D

[chunkymonkey]

I have dreams that I seem to have control over but for some reason I just seem to dream of things that happen in reality. Is there a way I could change it?

[dombeef]

That means that you are in real life...

[Ashin]

I still don't understand the programming thing i know you need to plug it into the computer with an AVR thingy or usb but like on the picture it doesn't even show either of them, so how did you program it? please help and don't gimme that link of that ghetto promgramming thing cause it's confusing to me too... yeah and im not really that good with tech so put it in beginner friendly words

[guyfrom7up]

i totally used the ghetto programmer, lol, jk. I could never get that thing to work. Instead I bought a prallel port AVR programmer on ebay (STK200, specifically, it's kinda old but works fine) for about 10 dollars including shipping fron Hong Kong. Then, using AVRdude (command prompt program, look for tutorials) I uploaded the hex file onto chip while it was on a breadboard.

[Ashin]

Oh and is this safe? everyone is saying that it messes up brainwaves and other stuff...

[Ashin]

I kind of got it so will this one do?
http://cgi.ebay.com/STK-compatible-ATMEL-AVR-programmer-AVR-Tiny-Mega_W0QQitemZ310095816696QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item310095816696&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

or this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Serial-Atmel-ISP-programmer-works-with-AVR-Studio-4_W0QQitemZ310095816721QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item310095816721&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

[guyfrom7up]

out of those 2 I'd pick the first one (parallel), because on some computers the serial port is easily fried/already broken (mine was)

[Ashin]

okay so if i buy that, how do i like connect it to what u have to make for this project?

[guyfrom7up]

well, I also bought a female connector for the 10pin AVR ISP header, and then using a pinout like the link below,
http://www.oxisso.com/Microcontrollers/ISPheader.gif
You just connect all the stuff with the same name to the attiny13
attiny13 pinout:
http://herman.kopinga.nl/wiki/_media/pinout_attiny13.png?w=300&h=&cache=cache
just connect all of the gnds (ground) together, all of the Vcc's (5 volts), and miso to miso, mosi to mosi, sck to sck, and reset to reset. You don't have to connect LED pin to anything.

[Hatake07]

dude your creative and all that but whats the point of making this thing

[gallimaufry13]

I had had lucid dreams before, but when I realized that you could control when you had them, I decided I ought to learn. It took me a pretty long time and this is such a great solution to learning it. I actually have an intructable made about how to lucid dream, but I havn't published it yet..again, great instructable, five stars!

[littlepetry]

I just made a machine based off of Arduino. It waits for 4 hours then blinks 5 times every 5 minutes. I'll try it out tonight and post how it works

[Gosha23]

If that realy works. if you could send me mor info on your machin?
I'v been practesing Lucid Dreaming for a long time now, and I had success in lucing my dream up, and I'v been looking for more wayes to luce tham up.then I found this web and got intrested in that.
'[e-mail]'

[Meroki]

is this for real? i could rly take control of my dreams, be who i wanna be and all that??

[oniman7]

Oh yes. In fact, here is a great website devoted to it. www.dreamviews.com

[Meroki]

wow, thats incredible...i srsly need to build this

[oniman7]

Although it will definitely guarantee more lucid dreams, you can easily develop them with a little bit of work. Until then, it's like trying to describe red to a blind guy. Try visiting that website I sent you.

[Meroki]

alrighty then :3

[timmy1234s]

this may sound like a lame and noobish question, but how do you program the thing?

[awang8]

A AVR reader and avrdude?

[shams]

people who cant program avr can also use LM556.It's a 14 pin ic needs no programing.Just use one timer for 4 hour time break and other for led bliking.Have a nice dream!!

[mgh_01]

where did you get the Battery holder?

[super_genius]

you can get a battery holder at radio shack.

[mgh_01]

fantastic, now about programming it... is there a program we need to buy? and where did you get your custom circuit board? i have just about all of the pieces, me and my friend are building but had a few questions, thanx for your help! once it is done we will share the results

[super_genius]

well, if I DO make one of these, i'm just going to use a timing mechanism like a digital alarm clock, and set the alarm to go off at about 3A.M., and hook up the alarm to radioshacks electronics learning labs 555 timing circuit, circuit,http://rsk.imageg.net/graphics/uc/rsk/Support/ProductManuals/2800280_P1_PM_EN.pdf
on page 19.

what will happen is the timer will go off and when it does it will set off this circuit, which can be easily wired with 2 led's instead of one.

[acer5050]

Havn't had a lucid dream in years, I could use this

[bigthink]

How would you suggest adding a motion detector to cue the lights? The NovaDreamer has this option and cues once rapid eye movement is detected.

[hillboy]

where can i buy a ATtiny13v AVR Microcontroller from?

[emergencydpt.com]

If I was dreaming, and I saw you coming at me with that freaky mask on... I would wig out...totally wig out...Good job though.

[Flumpkins]

dOES THIS REALLY WORK?!?

[Flumpkins]

whoops, sorry bout caps

[guyfrom7up]

it worked for me whenever I could keep the mask on

[Flumpkins]

lol awesome!!!

[raikut]

Doesn't it hurt your eyes

[KT Gadget]

one question about the code, where can you set a different time setting?

[super_genius]

couldn't you just use a 555 circuit? the led's would flash just the same.. you could actually choose how fast they flashed by what size of capacitor you use..

[romario]

Didn't read all the posts but in case it hasn't been mentioned: Visual or audio devices that are designed to control brain wave frequency can be potentially dangerous to individuals having a tendency to seizures. The program that was Cool Edit by Syntrillium Software (now Adobe Audition) once had a "brainwave synchronizer" function that was quite effective. Basically it used two white or pink noise frequencies that had a difference of the desired frequency (which is below auditory threshold). Needed to wear headphones for good stereo separation and could encode to take you from waking to sleep and dreaming states and back out. Very effective on myself and others I tested with. Typically I would make the files about 30-45 minutes long and tailor them for quick naps, lucid dreaming, etc. I'm sure there's still a crapload of info on the web, some of which might even be true! Good luck if you're experimenting but be careful and use another person to monitor until you know what the effects are on you.

[m_yazhini]

i can't believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[muzac]

Just curious, is this a redesign from volume 10 of MAKE magazine (The Brain Machine)? It's remarkably similar.

[Megiddo]

How do you add the code to the chip? I am new to this. I have read about how to do it with a parallel port, but I have a laptop that doesn't have a parallel port. Is this any way to do it with USB? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Yerboogieman]

thy have kits for usb but they are Way more expensive than serial port ones

[mgh_01]

any one still check this thing? still wondering where i can get some of the pieces required for this thanks, morgan

[KT Gadget]

ive never dealt with programming ICs so how do i connect it to my computer and program it? nice ible btw.

[KT Gadget]

oh one more question, anyone know how to make a charger for the battery used in this ible using a solar panel? just so you dont have to keep replacing the battery once it goes dead.

[twenglish1]

don't worry about a rechargeable battery the microcontroller uses barely any power

[KT Gadget]

ah ok but i still have the question on what program to use to program it and how to connect it to a computer. anyone know?

[twenglish1]

find an old computer with a parellel port and build this you can also find the directions to use it there too

[Jeebiss]

That seems simple enough. My problem is, I have no computer with a parallel port. Is there any other way?

[twenglish1]

check out this instructible its about using a usb programmer

[dabom]

i can control my dreams everynite

[Jeebiss]

(removed by author or community request)

[davidglinski]

yea how do you plug it in to computer or whatever and program?? plz help i want to control my dreams

[QuiksilverRox]

I used my arduino and hooked it up to the LEDs. With the arduino I can now change how it flashes and when it turns on.

[twenglish1]

sweet thats what i was thinking about using

[guyfrom7up]

cool Isn't the arudion a bit big? or do you put it off somewhre and have a wire run?

[QuiksilverRox]

yeah I have a wire and surprisingly it is barely noticeable but make sure to have enough slack.

[Alexizupinhea]

great idea. I heard about this while watching "100 Greatest Discoveries - Physics" on Discovery HD Theater. But... they talked about a gadget that detected when you had "rapid eye movement" while you were sleeping which would then trigger pulsating leds. I wonder how you can make a more advanced one like that. I am however not good with micro-controllers so i cannot figure it out. If yours works... I would love to try to figure out what I could use other than programming a micro-controller. BTW: Can anyone else who made this post if it has worked for them? I didn't read ALL the comments... but from the first page... I havent heard anything other than "Dangerous, wont work, I have lucid dreams w/o it, etc."

[mrworf]

I think that this is very dangerous because you are "inputing" another brainwaves in to your brain, who knows what might happening while you are sleeping, i have heard that some people are experimenting something very similar, the guy was hypnotized, he never woke up. (sorry, I'm living in Croatia, my English is bad)

[nislipk]

Ok. The lights only keep your mind awake. You will be sleeping and they will allow you to think and imagine what you want. This is allowing your conscious mind to make the dream rather then having your unconscious mind dream. It is safe. Because people are different this may not work. The settings also might need to be changed to fit you.

[Bradley1000]

The blinking lights are not controlling your mind. They are not transmitting brainwaves in through your eyes. They are just blinking.

[hackerlife]

rofl, just what i was thinking

[ETKIDD]

Remember the "look at this swinging pendant" thing or the medicine man singing "hay yaa yaa yaa" while shaking his rattle? All ways (very old ways) to get someones mind to"entrain" with a sparkle or a sound. The medicine man knew that if he could get his patient into alpha and suggested healing he had A pretty good chance of success. This is nothing new. The technique of entrainment is ancient. Certain lulabys (sp?) sung to children have an iambic pentameter that mimics delta. Your brain and I mean "your" brain wants to entrain with stimuli. Think about it...why does music make you feel? Why do squeeling brakes on a car or fingernails down a chalkboard cause discomfort? Is it subliminal? I believe so. Is it affecting everyone to some degree? I believe so. Is it meaningless? Well.....

[Karanath]

Our brains constantly have input that may influence their activity - music, for example, mother's heartbeat in the womb. But the energy state is not "injected" on top of what's there. Mostly there has to be a conscious intention to cooperate with the wavelength on offer. Except if you were in the MK-Ultra experiments. I see you mention sleep paralysis - sounds like you've had some freaky experiences.

[gmoon]

I agree...If this device is disrupting your sleep patterns, then reach up and turn it off.

Just as you would if your clock radio came on at night. It's probably about as dangerous as drinking coffee before bedtime.

I have no doubt that if one were forced to endure blinking lights all night for weeks on end, you would be sleep-deprived, and probably go bonkers.

Regarding the frequency, 1.5 hz is safely within the "Delta" brain wave range: (0.1 - 3 Hz), which, if you believe can be influenced by external stimuli, could trigger deep sleep, lucid dreaming, increased immune functions, and hypnosis.

Mind you, there's as much hokum as science in all the research I read. I've had several personal experiences, but it's up to guyfrom7up to let us know if changes are needed (one of the downsides to a long-distance collaboration.)

Based on independent reviews of the consumer devices available, I expect that something like this would work as well as any device costing less than 10 or 15K. That is to say: it might work well, or it might not work at all...or it might only work for some people.

[Cinder2007]

(removed by author or community request)

[Elipsis]

Its not the light pattern itself, its the lights that your brain senses but does not wake you up, and this external stimuli works its way into your dream, and your recognizing that flashing lights mean that you are dreaming creates a lucid dream, it does not automatically make your dreams crazy, it requires patience and practice to get it to work.

[Kulawend]

Everything you have described are all common myths that have been proven to be false.

[baconfish]

Do you have some sources you'd like to cite? Because it sounds like alot of crap to me. No offense.

[Labot2001]

Lucid dreaming

[guyfrom7up]

The worst that could happen is you wake up.... inputing brainwaves? You are inputing natural light (well, not so natural but you know...)

[Rikasu]

In my 14 years of life, I've only had 2 lucid dreams. But man, when you do have them, whew, its a real thrill to be able to control your dreams( very similar to the "Forge" type games on Halo 3, being able to "spawn" stuff by just thinking it) very neat contraption

[itsmanofpopsicle]

Hey! Im 10 and i have had,like, 15

[supersith22]

lucky, i've not had one and i'm 14 i wish these were being made and sold i'm no good with coding microprocessors and that kinda stuff (but awesome with led's =) )

[FireCrazyAlchemist]

well i have lucid dream every night but i think theres something wrong with me :D

[mackindlays]

I wonder, REM Sleep would be when you are in a dream state. Your body is is only receptive to outside stimulus during these periods. There are several different levels of sleep and each serve a specific purpose to recharge your body. Yes REM is the best, it is the only stage you can consciously be aware of, and you have physical movements (you shake and eyes move)... A different part of your brain acts as a suppressant and keeps you from moving wildly, beating yourself, or others during this portion of sleep. You are on the right track by manipulating the eyes during this sleep, however you should also think about the other senses... it may be more beneficial to your machine to extend other senses other then the eye. Don't give up on visual stimulation though, at least not in humans (it is 80% of how we perceive the world and interaction). I would say your first step is to try to add a motion sensor and program it to give enough room for normal eye movements. Then begin testing w/ your led. You can't write a program based on time that will find the proper time to manipulate sleeping patterns as they happen randomly. GL if you are really dedicated to figuring out Lucid Dreaming though... It would be a fantastic innovation!

[stallionspirit8]

OMG luid sleeping is soooooo fun. I can control my dreams most of the time, wake myself up in a nightmare and stuff. Is that common?

[avonaver]

Looks like something out of "A Clockwork Orange" I applaud you for being so inventive !

[stolenhert]

how much it cost?

[iceng]

It seems only ETKIDD noticed that dreams occur during REM sleep. (Rapid Eye Movements) ie your eyes move about while dreaming. When future electronics detects REM sleep, then the flash signal is set to intrude and enable a dreamer to realize the blinking means it is "dream" and then attempt to exert some lucid control. it's use full to know the brain initiates several REM periods through the night with more REM periods in the morning.

[Spencerr]

Wouldn't it be easier if you took those belt bike lights the ones to notify cars that there is a bike in front of you..

like one of these bad boys...

http://www.sourcingmap.com/led-modes-red-flash-bicycle-safety-light-p-17350.html

It has a mode where it just blinks.
Wouldn't that work? or would that defeat the whole purpose of DIY.

[Grey_Wolfe]

You'd still have to do some modding so as to have it delay activation for up to four hours. This device is designed to wait till you are dreaming before kicking in. Thus, it's easier to get to sleep, also it is more effective in signaling you of a change, as you don't get used to the blinking as you fall asleep. I think your idea would have effect, though maybe not in the same manner as this. What would really be good is if they threw in a motion sensor that could react to REM as an activator. Awesome idea, Guy.

[MisterMissanthrope]

its interesting and im not worried about it messing with my brain but my sleep, maybe i wouldnt get an equally good nights sleep

[Grey_Wolfe]

Some research has led us to believe that you actually get a better nights rest from Lucid Dreaming.

[fishyfish777]

I thought of that too. Might be fun though XD

[MisterMissanthrope]

yeah, thats the extremely alluring factor in all this, to be awake while dreaming, would be amazing

[josefu0]

u Asian plz join

[o WONDERBREAD o]

last night i took a strobe light and put a red film over it...i dont think it would work...i could handle the powerful falshing so i turned it off...

[Yerboogieman]

i'll try it but, i dont know how to program microcontrollers, and i'll use UV LED's and a controller i have might work.

[suibhne]

Very cool :D

[awkrin]

another interesting thing would be to make some moving light, probably weaker than the leds used in this one. when u sleep, your eyes would follow those light and u would look around.. for mrworf: it can't do any damage cuz this is supposed ti get u a bit more conscious, and to make you in control, not in a deeper sleep. my only experience with think like this is a the first minute or so of a video from metacafe called self hypnosis and after the first 40 seconds, a skull appeared that was looking like it was going to eat your brains and a scream. that was one of the most scary experiences of my life, but it did't affect my subconscious..

[torik]

nice, but how do i get this code into chip? any tips?

[kleph]

I think that the ultimate point of this device is to bring you out of sleep only enough to realise that you're dreaming, thus creating lucid dreaming. Using it for a prolonged period of time would only result in the brain becoming sensitised to the sensory input. (The same way people on the lower floors of apartment blocks learn to sleep with the noise of traffic outside). That being said, I'd love to try this!

[ETKIDD]

I have built a machine with eyepieces that have small sensors that monitor the eyelid movement. It is known that eyelid movement (twitching) occurs when rapid eye movement starts (REMS). REMS happen when you are entering the Theta (dreaming) portion of sleep. I have great success with this even though every dream is not lucid. The trained ability to recognise this state of consiousness is valuable as well as entertaining. Problem solving, finding lost items, remembering what happened in a traumatic situation. I have even improved my health somewhat. A useful endeavor indeed. I think this device in instructables only lacks in the sensor level. Waiting 4 hours isn't accurate enough. You have to realize when your brain is going into Theta, Then the blinking should be in the theta range of frequency Else your brain will "entrain" to it. If it is faster You will awaken, slower and you will drift into Repair state with no dreaming. Hope this is not the wrong kind of comment for you, if it is I'm sorry.

[ericq]

indeed, i hope to see a version 2.0 of this device, with movement sensors of course

[Gjdj3]

Also, which programmer do you use?

[Gjdj3]

2 questions, if you could help at all that'd be great. 1. I have an ATTINY85, which also has 8 pins. Could I use it? 2. Could you put up the Eagle file for download? Thanks in advance for the help.

[solo.card]

Hmm, I think there are much easier ways to have lucid dreams... And less dangerous ones too...

[guyfrom7up]

Why does everybody think that this is dangerous?!? well not everybody...

[Thornburg]

I don't think it will have any permanent effects, but I was wondering if you ever woke up dizzy while wearing these.

[jdisco]

I know, what do they think is going to happen? All thats happening is that an LED is flashing in your eyes to wake you up a little. Its not like you wear this while driving or anything.

[XI3]

it seems lke their would be about two ways it can be dangerous (in my opinion neway) - 1. you rolling over in your sleep and stabbing yourszelf in the eye with the lcd lol. which does not seem exceptionally dangerous 2. if while you were lucid dreaming, you just had a total freak out, (for whatever reason, nightmare, or just forgetting the lucid dreaming thing,) and started thrashing around (that is if sleep paralysis diddnt set in first.) you could have the possibility to hurt yourself. both of these do not seem like a dangerous enough threat to divert me though....

[truko]

It's not necessary at all to have the microcontroller, you just have to buy two intermittent LEDs, which are easy to recognise because they use to have a little black spot inside of the plastic bulb. but you can ask in any electronic shop anyway. however, the real question is if we will get asleep with that shining stuff in our eyelids. lol

[crawfd]

Believe I saw a similar product mentioned on luciddreaming.com. This type of induction (flashing lights) can effect a persons dream according to some lucid dreaming studies.

[ETKIDD]

ones conception of "reality" is something to consider. If you include consiousness in that definition, then you must throw out the dictionary."awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc." if you dont include that in your definition then reality is as defined " something that constitutes a real or actual thing, as distinguished from something that is merely apparent." but the act of becoming lucid would circumvent the "apparent" part of that. Which leaves the only truth that can be.

[tac135]

This is pretty cool. Do you think setting your ipod alarm to some time in the middle of the night and have the volume turned down really low would also work? But like you said, keeping the headphones in would be tough.

[mrworf]

Believe me, you will be happy if you can wake up after imputing natural lights, did sometimes happened to you that you go to sleep and you wake up but you can`t move?

[Basta]

Sounds like classic (and perfectly natural) sleep paralysis to me. While it may be scary it's part of your body's natural response to sleep--your brain actually paralyzes your lower body while you are sleeping, most likely to keep you from getting up or thrashing around unconsciously, possibly injuring yourself. If you wake up only half-way, you may still be in this paralyzed state yet you'll be self-aware enough to notice the paralysis. It's scary, yes, but it's nothing to be afraid of. Sleep paralysis an other effects like it have given rise to a lot of myths, alien encounters being one of the most common. People have also experienced feelings of falling or floating in this state. Just remember that all of it is natural, though, and can't harm you in any way.

[tac135]

I was half asleep once, and i had that falling/floating feeling, it feels weird, but in a cool kind of way.

[F-17]

COOL

[DrCoolSanta]

Well to all those who are scared, I have read that theses were commercially supplied earlier, and if there were any complaints or hazzards, it must have been mentioned or be in news papers and all. If you think they wouldn't mention it, think about it, its wikipedia, there must be atleast someone to write about that. Anyways, my best experiences with lucid dreaming have been natural, they get scary if I try to induce them, so I generally try to have people around me when I sleep and I try to induce, but nonetheless they have never been successful.

[Hekki]

Hey nice work on this, although I have yet to try it , it is very interesting ! Can I ask will this device make you have dreams as such? , well will it work if you aren't having a dream in the first place?.

[DrCoolSanta]

Check wikipedia on Lucid Dreaming and such, I remember reading that you always dream, its just that you arn't able to remember the dreams properly. And I also remember that you have a dream around every 90 mins.

[mrworf]

So here is a very rough frequency-map of the body. As you can see, it is very approximate: 8.8 Crown 8.0 Nasal sinuses 7.3 In the centre of the brain 6.0 Neck 5.5 6.4 Throat 5.0 5.6 Heart 4.5 Low heart 5.1 Bottom of breast-bone 4.2 TRUTH centre ? Pleasant sensation. 4.0 On spine, lower back 4.6 Navel level 3.8 Just above sacrum 4.3 Just above pubic bone 3.65 Sex centre on sacrum 3.2 Edge of sleep :: SLEEP 0.94 Edge of sleep 0.92 Connected to other self ? Pleasant, active, alert. 0.90 Connected to other self, quite deep Feeling awake at 0.92Hz was a surprise for me - I had read that all the Delta frequencies (supposedly everything below 4 Hz) are related to a state of deep unconscious sleep. As I say, I would be interested to hear if anybody else finds anything similar from their own experimentation. ---Jim Peters---

[zwild1]

Nice Job- Make: Magazine did this a while ago, and used audio too. You might try using their safety glasses idea, I play around with mine and its pretty comfortable. I usually use it when I wouldn't normally sleep, Its quite refreshing to trip out for an hour.

Article -Hack Your Brain - Make Video Podcast
PDF- Brain Machine

[pbpenguin5]

maybe a slightly more comfortable mask would help you from taking it off without knowing.

[guyfrom7up]

well, if I find something I'll update the instructable... any suggestions?

[pilotaz]

you can do it without glasses like this... you just need to catch yourself that you are sleeping! that is all, after you can do whatever you wont ;)

[santy22]

Then you wake up at 3 am, you crash aganist a wall because of shiny-led-flashing-dream-thingy and go to urgencies to get 2 leds out your eyeballs, right?

[mrworf]

When I try to do lucid dreaming, my heart goes faster and I'm scared that my heart will stop, i thought that my brain was slowed down and everything around me goes faster then i put a clock on my desk, Iv heard the clock going in normal "ticking" tempo but my heart was realy faster than usual , before i start to dreaming, I see a some kind of flashing before my eyes, its some kind of frequency, about 3-4 Hz, one flash is about 0,1 sec, and I hear a frequency about 2,7 kHz.

[hellstudios]

LOL

[sypher]

dope, i remember seeing a device like this during the early 90s. it worked and was safe. nice supa-detailed instructable!

[Rectifier]

Nice. I am (well, was) a lucid dreamer. I could usually only catch them in the morning by waking up at 7 and falling back asleep - not really an option now back in the work world. I tried WILD but it was exceedingly unreliable. Maybe I'll give something like this a shot. I miss lucid dreaming. For those who are scared by things - why? It's light. In your eyes. That's what they're for. Now laser pointers in your eyes, maybe that would be a bad idea. But this, worst case - you'll be sleepy and stop using it... Bah. I used to have delayed sleep phase problems, guess what - they went away after awhile. The body tends towards equilibrium.

[whiteshepherd]

Everyone please do not use this device more than once or twice a month, as it is very dangerous. The eyes do alot more than just see. They are tha main controllers for your internal clock. When light hits your eyes first thing in the morning, your brain starts producing a neurotransmitter called acetycholene, and maintaining the right levels are what regulate how awake or tired you are. If you start introducing light to your eyes during your sleep cycle for extended periods of time, you're going to develop chronic fatigue or worse.

[tradergordo]

The novadreamer uses low intensity red LEDs with adjustable brightness. You don't want a bright light, just enough to see the cue (flashing light) in your dreams but not enough to wake you up. That said, wearing any strange mask with blinking lights is probably going to disrupt your sleep, just plan on getting an extra hour by going to bed earlier or waking up later.

[guyfrom7up]

well, if you're going to try this device out please don't do it when you have something important the next day, just to see how you react to the device. For example, I didn't wear this the night before my finals because I was worried it'd effect my sleep for the worse. If you use it for a couple days and you are not tired or anything the next day then just go for it!

[SoakedinVancouver]

It would be interesting to see if different effects, dream-wise, would be obtained by changing the blinking rate, or the intensity, or the color(s). What if you use a color you dislike? Would it induce nightmares? I already have some control in my (extremely detailed) dreams, it would be interesting if I can introduce another element... A great little project, very inspirational!

[Karanath]

Cool instructable - may start a dream lab in my bedroom soon......

[KentsOkay]

AWESOME!!

How do I set it so that I get tons of dreams involving elves?

[Karanath]

Record affirmations about elf interactions and play for at least 45mins while you sleep - I did it for aliens for a couple of weeks.

[tradergordo]

You have to add a DMT circuit.

[wingman358]

I'm working on pairing a modded insulin pump with this dream machine. The pump is filled with a dilute solution of DMT and releases large doses straight to the blood stream when lucidity is achieved. Not really, but that would be an interesting project :]

[kretzlord]

pumping that into your veins would make it into a "trip balls harder than you ever thought possible" machine.

[wingman358]

Indeed, it would. Perhaps it is not as outlandish as one might first think! It would be dangerous, though, since I'm not familiar with the dosage of DMT.

[kretzlord]

a little bit would do you, especially intravenously. Watch out for the giant flying rocking chair though...

[KentsOkay]

4 stars, 1 vote, faved!

[danielsb7676]

Awesome instructable can't wait to try it. There is this thing I don't remember what it is called, but many people in college do it where through out the day they ask themselves (or each other) constantly whether or not they are asleep, and eventually they ask themselves while they are really asleep and can cause a lucid dream.

[Kulawend]

I do this myself. I ask myself at random times "Am I really awake?", "Am I sleeping?" or "Is this real?", and then I find myself doing it in my dream to. It's just simple conditioning.

[Karanath]

I think one name for it is "reality state checking". Stephen LaBurge writes about it, recommends you do it every hour and try to do something you can only do in a dream, like fly or put your hand through a wall (gently), to condition the behaviour through the sleep state.

[strikew3st]

Wow, that is a really cool idea! I'll have to look into it and see what other people have done to get it to work best. Probably with a set statement/reply, like "Are you asleep?" replied with "No, I am awake." Same thing every time, you know? A full day or two of constantly asking each other that has to filter it into our dreams. Next time I spend a full day with one person I'll try it.

[jongscx]

...what it you roll over onto it? Do you get an IC-shaped dent on your forehead in the morning?

[Kulawend]

What if you get an LED stuck in your eye? Ouch.

[baconfish]

Yeah, that's the one thing that would stop me from trying this. It's rare enough that I actually fall asleep on my back, but to avoid rolling over in my sleep probably isn't going to happen.

[guyfrom7up]

there's enough of the foamy cushion stuff behind it that you don't notice it. If it's uncomfortable in your sleep you probably will take it off without remembering that you took it off, that happened to be twice. I normally sleep on my side (kins, I sleep diagnol so my arm still get's circulation.

[wiredlisa]

Lucidity.orgThe sleeping mind has an amazing ability to ignore external stimuli that is not meaningful or unexpected. Lucid dream devices like the Nova Dreamer, REM Dreamer and DreamMaker all work by first detecting REM sleep before sending a flash or beep to the user. These flashes or sounds will then tend to be incorporated into the dream in some way. The user must also train themselves for several weeks to ask themselves "Am I Dreaming?" whenever they see a flash or hear a beep. Flashing or beeping noises emitted from a device like the one here will most likely simply be processed and ignored the same way it ignores the television when you fall asleep while watching. Without the additional mental training and the addition of an REM detector, this device is not likely to work. I would urge anyone interested in making this device to read the research on Lucid Dreaming provided by the Lucidity Institute first at Lucidity.org

[Kulawend]

This is most definitely true, if you condition your brain to question reality when it receives a stimuli when your awake then it will do the same in a dream.

[guyfrom7up]

huh, well when I was watching the history channel (or maybe it was discovery?) they were talking about lucid dreaming and how devices that input light through your eyelids after a predetermined time can help increase the chances of expierencing a lucid dream.

[gmoon]

Frankly, when we did research Lucidity.com seemed the least scientific, especially since they seem more interested in selling books, workshops and promoting products. And listing several commercial products immediately makes me think this comment is about the potential competition of a DIY project...

[wiredlisa]

I just looked again and while I do see a link to a workshop, I also see literally hundreds of pages of free training, research and articles on how to lucid dream.

[chalky]

Right at this moment im finding it hard enough as it is to get to sleep(what with my insomnia lol) so i wont be trying this just yet. but this is brilliantly put together and easy to follow instructable,nice work and congrats to all concerned:)

[Kulawend]

Insomnia is not too hard to fix, do some research.

[techball]

hey, i saw this in MAKE last summer, and i do believe they offer the chip preprogrammed for $10... were you the one that worked on this in the article?

[pen gun dude]

you have your programing wrong and what you need to do it right is most likely unavailable to a couple of do it yourselfers.the right way its supposed to go is that it should be programmed to turn on when you start REM sleeping which stands for Rapid Eyelid Movement in other words your eyes start blinkin alot and when they do the lights should come one and pulse just enough for the light to pass through your eyelids so you can tell in your dreams not just start blinking in 4 hours but good attempt. and i dont care about my punctuation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Unknown038]

The reason it just starts on a timer is because it is much easier and cheaper to detect the passage of 4 hours than it is to detect REM sleep. (although it really doesnt take 4 hours to reach REM for most people)

[xapa]

I have an idea, what about an ambient led powered lamp using the same avr and programming? A smooth and well diffused light all over the room should do, at least it would solve the problem of taking the sleep mask off involuntarily...oh ...even better, an arterial tone sensor on your finger tip communicating with the lamp trough RF, and when it detects REM it turns on the blinking light. It sounds like a nice project... by the way guyfrom7up and gmoon, nice work guys! ;)

[freshmanfred0000]

I love the idea, I should try this a few times, instead of herbal supplements...I do have a bit of criticism on the design of the mask, I believe you should have peeled up a layer of the material and mounted the LED's in the foam or something.

[Fluffyjimmy]

Nice job, I just thought I'd say that 4 hours might not be the best timing though. most people begin REM sleep in 90 minutes and every 90 minutes after that. I don't think there is any person that is a perfect 90 minute dreamer, so whatever works for you. Good job on the idea/design though, i wanted to try making one of these myself.

[gmoon]

I appreciate the comment--I plan to make the code easier to modify, so the initial wait state can be tuned to an individual. Since guyfrom7up has the only hardware version, I'm waiting for some feedback on how it functions, and if he has any dream experiences (hopefully it'll stay on next time...)

[guyfrom7up]

to be tested tonight! again... lol

[guyfrom7up]

well, since we are using the internal timer the timing's not going to be perfect, when I timed it the LEDs turn on after 4 hours and 18 minutes. Along with the fact that 90 minutes is an aproximation it really shouldn't matter. It all depends on your attiny13v and who your are thanks!

[f8l_0e]

If you try building your own, maybe you should attempt to detect REM sleep. REM sleep can be detected with sensors over two fingers that look for peripheral arterial tone.

[jongscx]

...say whah??? semi-kidding... but is that something you'd be able to pick out with an arduino or picaxe-based solution and not need a full lappy/comp ?

[f8l_0e]

Well, I didn't have time to research it yet, but I'll tell you what I read. There is an interest in monitoring REM sleep in people who are at risk for a heart attack. Apparently a large number of heart attacks occur in the early morning hours right after waking. And apparently, the cause is waking up during REM sleep is jarring to the nervous system and can cause infarction in those already susceptible to it. They have a watch sized monitor that has leads that go over the finger tips to check for peripheral arterial tone, indicating REM. So a small device is quite possible. The monitor in question costs $5k though. However, I'd be willing to bet that the cost is in the miniaturization and the need to pay the companies bills. If that's the case, I'm sure someone could build something that would fit in a small project box.

[teeps]

herehere is a patent for something like what is being discussed. Great instructable!

[mister2]

This is awesome and i really want to try it. about how much are the combined parts on the internet?

[guyfrom7up]

not including shipping: Copper Clad/Pref Board ~$1.00 (you'd have a lot of extra) Attiny13v $1.40 cr2032 ranges from a few cents in a big pack to like 3 dollars for 1, I suggest searching deal extreme cr2032 ranges from 20 cents to 80 cents sleeping mask... I don't know resistors, next to free LEDs, next to free (recycle it!) in the end it'll cost you about 3 or 4 dollars plus shipping if you need to buy all of the parts I had all of the parts and it costed me 0 dollars.

[ongissim]

Nice Instructable. I've seen the same thing done here a while ago with a PIC.

[guyfrom7up]

huh, that's really similar, the plastic in the eye hole thing is a good idea

[Josho]

How do you program the chip?

[guyfrom7up]

you need an AVR programmer, if you don't own one I suggest one that either plugs into your parallel port or USB port of your computer

[gmoon]

This instructable might help, Josho:
Ghetto Programming: Getting started with AVR microprocessors on the cheap

Which reminds me; I should add a Makefile to the project. I believe guyfrom7up uses AVR Studio (for PC), but a simple Makefile for Linux users would help...

[gmoon]

Well, just for the heck of it, I rated it to see if a collaborator could....and it worked.

_{that's not really fair, is it?}

[Bran]

Nah, someone should get that changed.

[gmoon]

I didn't try to vote in the contests, tho. That would really be unfair.

Although they do examine the contest data pretty closely, to be sure one person isn't voting from multiple accounts. I think they'd catch that, if it's even possible....

[Bran]

I didn't mean you, I meant in practice. But yeah, I guess some people are just like that.

[wiredlisa]

The Lucidity Institute is run by Stephen LaBerge. Google his name or go on any website or Wiki about Lucid Dreaming and you will see his name as one of the most respected researchers in the area of lucid dreaming. He basically wrote the bible on lucid dreaming. If I had any association to him I probably would have given the correct URL to his site in my last post (It's actually www.Lucidity.com). What the Discovery channel program on Dreaming said is correct. Flashing lights or other external stimulation can be used as a "DreamSign" to aid you in achieving lucidity. It just happens to be only one part of a slightly more complex process. I love the idea of an Instructables Dream Device. This one just needs some additional features and instructions before it will actually work. In addition, the most important tool for lucid dreaming isn't the mechanical que, its the mental preperation to recognise the que.

[hondagofast]

I've had one or two lucid dreams. I used to do it by using the alarm on my phone... I suppose you could use some skiing goggles to reduce the eyes-getting-poked-out-while-sleeping factor. Favorited and +1

[Bran]

Great job! Wish I could do electronics!

[threecheersfornick]

That's awesome. The only thing I'd be worried about is getting my eyes poked out as I rolled around. And how close does the LED have to be to your face? You might be able to get away with some flashing lights next to your bed. I'm off to buy a disco ball for when I'm sleeping.

[CheesySnackMAN]

couldnt u do something similar but use sound and use an alarm clock ? that would be more simipler and it wouldnt "fall off" while your sleaping

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

Great job, this is really cool! Too bad it's waaaay over my head, you should sell these in the marketplace.

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

Oh, hope it works too! I've had a lucid dream once or twice. Can't remember what it was about, but I know I've had one.

[xACIDITYx]

What is a lucid dream?

[slydark]

there is a deswcription of lucid dreams in the intro to this particular instructable. ;-)

[cantth1nk0fnam3]

why don't you just make this thing without the mask and instead, tape it to your forehead. so if you turn too much it won't fall off

[Keith-Kid]

Whoa! I didn't know you had posted it yet!

[mikeasaurus]

Simple and some very interesting possibilities! You must post if you have any success with this! great job!

[chooseausername]

Great idea !
Congrats to both of you for this collaborative experimentation !

I hope it will work ! =o)

[gmoon]

I wanna say that the idea for this was all guyfrom7up's. He had the initial inspiration, chose the AVR type, battery type and voltage, did all the hardware, made the PCB (excellent!), etc. I was just brought on board for the AVR software.

He deserves the lion's share of the credit...

Personally, I'd like to see more collaborations. It was fun.

[guyfrom7up]

But this couldn't have been possible without Gmoon

[dan moulton]

Great job. Reading this reminded me of a dream machine i read about in a William s Burroughs book. Is this concept related?

http://www.noah.org/wiki/Dreamachine dream machine

Yours seems a little different but perhaps could be modded to work in this way?

[PineapplebobTheGreat]

Very cool. I will try.

[Weissensteinburg]

Very cool, i hope it works!