Scientists have brought science fiction one step closer to reality by creating the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreaming.
In an experiment that sounds like a scene from the movie “Inception,” REMspace — a California-based startup that designs technology to improve sleep and lucid dreaming — reportedly exchanged a message between two people who were sleeping.
The company used “specially designed equipment,” including a “server,” a “device,” “Wi-Fi” and “sensors,” but did not specify exactly what technology they used.
The study participants slept in separate houses when REMspace researchers beamed out a word created by a unique language between them.
A neurotech company claims to have achieved the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreaming
REMspace CEO and Founder Michael Raduga said: “Yesterday, communicating in dreams seemed like science fiction.
‘Tomorrow it will be so common that we will no longer be able to imagine our lives without this technology.
“This opens the door to countless commercial applications, reshaping the way we think about communication and interaction in the dream world.”
The technology has yet to be assessed or replicated by scientists. But if it is validated, it would be a major milestone for sleep research and could have applications for mental health treatments, skills training and more, according to REMspace.
REMspace used “specially designed equipment” that allowed two individuals to successfully exchange a simple message while lucid dreaming, the company claimed.
Lucid dreaming occurs when a person is aware that he is dreaming while still in the dream state.
This allows them to perform self-directed actions in their dreams, rather than randomly interacting with the ‘dream world’ without any sense of control.
This phenomenon occurs during REM, or Rapid Eye Movement, sleep, when dreams typically occur.
REMspace hasn’t revealed exactly what equipment was used in their experiment, but said the experiment involved a “device” that tracked participants’ brain waves and other biological data during the experiment.
It also involved a ‘server’ that can detect when participants enter a lucid dream and generate messages sent to them.
Two study participants slept in separate houses while their brain waves were monitored remotely by the device, which sent data to the server.
Two study participants slept in their home while their brainwaves were monitored remotely by the device, which sent data to the server
Once the server detected that a participant had entered a lucid dream, it generated a random word and forwarded it to them via earbuds
Eight minutes later, the second participant entered a lucid dream. The server forwarded the first participant’s saved message to her, which she repeated upon waking
Once the server discovered that a participant had entered a lucid dream, it generated a random word from the special language and forwarded it to him via earbuds.
The participant then repeated this word in his dream, and that response was recorded and stored on the server.
Eight minutes later, the second participant entered a lucid dream. The server forwarded the first participant’s saved message to her, which she repeated upon waking.
REMspace was able to repeat this experiment with another pair of participants. But the study will need to undergo a thorough evaluation before the company can definitively say that they have achieved dream communication.
Raduga, who is confident in their results, is widely known for his ambitious – and sometimes bizarre – experiments.
Raduga, 40, implanted an electrode in his brain to ‘control his dreams’
The electrode implant is made of platinum and silicon. Raduga claimed that electrical triggers sent to this electrode can influence the course of lucid dreaming
In 2023, he risked his life when he tried to implant a microchip in his own brain to control his dreams.
The 40-year-old, who has no qualifications in neurosurgery, compared his extremely dangerous experiment to the film Inception, claiming his ‘electrode’ could one day have the potential to change the course of lucid dreaming.
Gruesome footage of the procedure shows him holding his skin back with paperclips while bulldozing the back of his skull with a drill he found in a hardware store.
He placed the chip in his brain after hours of watching YouTube videos about neurosurgery and practicing on five sheep. He told no one about his plans.
The chip was eventually removed after five weeks in hospital.
The extremely dangerous study has not appeared in any peer-reviewed journal and is not supported by any university, but Raduga claimed he had to do it himself.
“I’m glad I survived, but I was ready to die,” he told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview last year.
Now he has set his sights on another ambitious goal: making real-time communication possible in lucid dreams.
“We believe that REM sleep and related phenomena, such as lucid dreaming, will become the next big industry after AI,” says Raduga.