Researchers have achieved the first two-way communication between individuals while they were lucid dreaming. This feat, which sounds like something out of a sci-fi thriller, was made possible by REMspace, a California-based startup focused on enhancing sleep and lucid dreaming through cutting-edge technology.
Using specially designed equipment, REMspace successfully transmitted a message between two participants who were asleep in separate homes. The experiment, still awaiting peer review, opens a fascinating realm of possibilities in communication, mental health treatment, and even skill training.
“Yesterday, communicating in dreams seemed like science fiction. Tomorrow, it will be so common we won't be able to imagine our lives without this technology,” Michael Raduga, CEO and founder of REMspace, told DailyMail as he explained the potential of their innovation. “This opens the door to countless commercial applications, reshaping how we think about communication and interaction in the dream world.”
The participants, whose brain waves were tracked remotely by an apparatus designed by the company, were engaged in lucid dreaming — a state in which the sleeper is aware that they are dreaming and can control their actions within the dream.
The breakthrough was achieved when the server, linked to the participants' brain activity, detected that one had entered a lucid dream state. At this point, it generated a random word in a specially created language and transmitted it to the first participant via earbuds.
In his dream, the participant repeated the word, and his response was recorded and stored by the server. A few minutes later, the second participant entered a lucid dream, and the server transmitted the stored message, which she repeated upon waking. The experiment was repeated with another pair of participants, although more rigorous scientific review is needed before the results can be confirmed.
The experiment, while promising, is not without scepticism. REMspace has yet to reveal the exact technology used, and no third-party scientists have reviewed or replicated the study. Nonetheless, the potential applications are vast.
If validated, this development could revolutionise fields such as therapy, where dream communication could aid in mental health treatments, or education, where complex skills might be learned or practiced in a dream state.
Raduga is no stranger to ambitious and sometimes controversial experiments. In 2023, he made headlines for attempting to implant a microchip in his brain to control his dreams — a risky and unregulated procedure that was ultimately removed in a hospital.
Despite the danger, Raduga’s determination to push the boundaries of dream research remains steadfast. "I am glad I survived, but I was ready to die," he said after his near-fatal experiment, adding that he felt compelled to undertake it for his own reasons.
Now, Raduga and his team at REMspace are setting their sights on a much larger goal: enabling real-time communication during sleep, a development that could transform the future of human interaction.
“We believe that REM sleep and related phenomena, like lucid dreams, will become the next big industry after AI,” Raduga stated.
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