Dream Explorer is a gateway to the ultimate virtual reality of dreams. Being able to monitor the biometrical data of a sleeping subject and affect the environment, it can determine when the subject is in REM phase and try to induce a lucid dream. With the mobile web interface, the device can be set up to execute custom bindings which enables handling various experiments while being in a usual or lucid dream. It can also be used as a personal sleep laboratory.

Dream Explorer features the following sensors to gather input from a sleeping subject:

• Electrodes attached to head to detect eye movements
• Heartbeat sensor
• Motion Sensor (accelerometer)
• Night vision camera
• Microphone

The actuated changes could also be quite various, such as temperature change in the room, light flashes, background sounds, playing prerecorded voice in order to provoke unconscious dialog which will be recorded and could be listened to in the morning. Water sprinkling, smell injection, punching – Dream Explorer can be extended to handle these too.

Actuators incorporated into the Dream Explorer are:

• Audio output (can also be used to ring the alarm)
• Vibration feedback
• Remote control of external devices plugged into power sockets (like lights, fan etc.)

Before going to sleep, you access the Dream Explorer’s interface via smartphone and set up the bindings, which map a condition(s) to an action(s) to execute. A typical dream experiment binding is described below.

Conditions:

• Time passed after entering REM set to 10 minutes
• Currently in REM

Actions:

• Play Audio with a link to an audio file of someone saying the dreamer’s name several time
• Wait set to 20 seconds
• Control external device set to pulse the lights
• Wait set to a few minutes seconds
• Wake me up