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Dream Alarm

Wakes you during REM sleep
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I often have great dreams. Many are novel-worthy (IMO), or would at least make a good children's fantasy story. At any rate they can be incredibly entertaining.

My idea is a personal electroencephalograph (EEG) set to gently wake me during my REM sleep phase so that I could experience these bits of surreal entertainment on a more regular basis.

I've searched for similar ideas, but all I've found are the "smart alarm clocks" (see link below) set to wake you when you're NOT in REM sleep, with the purpose of reducing drowsiness. OK, so the machinery is baked, but not the usage. Or is it?

This would be an entertainment device, and has the potential to ruin a good night's sleep. It probably shouldn't be used the night before an important appointment.

Puzzle, Mar 12 2002

Smart Alarm Clock http://www.halfbake...art_20alarm_20clock
[Puzzle, Mar 12 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

[link]






       Isn't interruption of REM sleep considered a method of torture by the Geneva Convention? I'd rather have a machine that could *record* my best dreams.
threeoutside, Mar 12 2002
  

       something that monitors the movement of your eyes below the lids which is indicative of REM sleep, and a gentle wake up call. Suggest you do it just once a night - to stop you going MAD. My dog watches for this and does this to me most nights. silly me that's what REM stands for!!
po, Mar 12 2002
  

       Do REM sleep and snoring often coincide? If so I already have an alarm system, though I wish she would wake me a little less violently.
rbl, Mar 12 2002
  

       would just HATE to be having a bad day and jump out the window in an effort to see if I am dreaming......
rbl, Mar 12 2002
  

       I dreamed of a pocket full of different-colored lollipops, and each one took you to a new place or time when you licked it. This device could benefit writers and such... Got a block? Take a nap.
Puzzle, Mar 12 2002
  

       its called lucid dreaming, Peter. I always remember my dreams and I am sometimes aware that I am dreaming and I can wake and return to the same dream but have not as yet been able to influence the outcome.
po, Mar 12 2002
  

       blissmiss, I assure you I've never posted here before. I've killed many hours lurking, though. Until now I haven't had any ideas I thought were worth sharing. Darn it, I thought this was a good one! :-)
Puzzle, Mar 12 2002
  

       croissant for lurking, we call it pre-posting research and its laudable.
po, Mar 12 2002
  

       Yay!
Puzzle, Mar 12 2002
  

       If you can't loom, lurking is the next best thing...   

       lurk softly and carry a big pipe organ!   

       randomness is gboaodd   

       Anyway, I often dream lucidly, but I almost never remember my dreams - pretty much just when I'm rudely awakened. It's darn frustrating, because they're anything but boring... I'd buy this. Have a rich, buttery, crescent-shaped roll of leavened dough or puff paste.
magnificat, Mar 13 2002
  

       I've read about lucid dreaming research projects in which scientists use a flashing red light to make sleepers aware that they're dreaming and get them to try to take control of the dream. I would love to participate in something like that.   

       I have had success exactly *once* in realizing that I'm dreaming and lifting off the ground. Once in maybe four years of effort.
earl, Jul 10 2002
  
      
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