Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
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From: pjm100@york.ac.uk (Philip Marley)
Subject: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Keywords: computer, lucid, dream, Amiga
Message-ID: <1995Feb16.191406.16982@leeds.ac.uk>
Summary: Computer-based lucidity inducing method ate my hamster
Organization: The University of York, UK
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 19:14:05 +0000 (GMT)
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Right... I've been wondering whether to post this for a few days now. I
was hoping to obtain a few more results, but I think it's more important
to post this now so that I can get some feedback.

The essence of it is: I've worked out (what I think is) a brand new
lucidity inducing technique. I may be wrong - possibly someone has come
up with this before - but if they have then I've yet to come across it.

Okay. It goes like this:

I'm involved in some lucid dream research work and, being very interested
in LDs myself I've been trying to have one for a long time. Recently I
started experimenting with different methods - reality checking as much
as possible, popcorn, B12, caffeine pills, etc, etc. None of them worked
(I stress: none of them worked _for me_ - I know that a lot of people find
these methods very useful).

So I started thinking about doing the tape recorder method - where you
record your own voice saying "You are dreaming" over and over and play it
during the night. And then I started thinking and came up with a few
ideas...

Premise #1: When we go to sleep, some sort of filtering system goes into
operation that lets us ignore background noise even if it is loud enough
to wake us from sleep if it started suddenly. Example: If there's
building work going on outside your house you can still get to sleep, but
if the same work starts _while_ you're asleep it'll wake you up.

Premise #2: Once the noise is filtered out, we're less likely to react to
it. People on this group have reported things like dogs barking reacting
with their dreams. I would hypothesize that if you recorded the same dogs
barking on a tape and fell asleep with it playing, you'd be less likely
to react to it.

Conclusion: You want a system that starts when you're asleep, e.g. a tape
on a timer.

Premise #3: If the sound is too quiet, it won't have any effect. If it's
too loud, it'll wake you up. If the sound is too sudden, it'll also wake
you up.

Conclusion: If you had a system that slowly increased the volume of the
message while you were sleeping, you might be able to jack the volume
high enough to make yourself react without waking yourself up, because
your brain would progressively filter and compensate - same way as a room
can grow gradually dimmer while you're working in it and you won't
notice, but if the change happened suddenly you certainly would.
Tape is reasonably useless for this because you'd have to repeat your
message into a microphone at a gradually increasing volume over and over
again and oonce you've done it you've got no way of changing the speed
the volume alters at or the message.

Premise #4: People probably vary in the level of noise that will wake
them and that will cause lucidity. There are other variables as well -
how often the message repeats, how fast the volume increases, and so on.

Conclusion: The system needs to be easily adjustable.

So... I came up with LIP - the lucidity inducing program! ;-)

The way LIP works is this: You run the program and it asks you for
a delay time before the first cycle begins. You enter it in minutes (I
usually opt for 30).
A timer is then displayed, counting down from the time you entered to
zero, in minutes and seconds (useful if you wake up and want to know how
much time you've got left before the message starts).
When the timer has run down, the screen blanks (very important!) and the
first cycle starts. The computer plays the message "You're dreaming". The
volume is inaudible: 1/64th of what I consider to be a normal speaking
volume. 20 seconds later there's another cycle, this time at 2/64th, and
so on up to full volume (the fact that I don't wake up when it reaches
maximum would seem to lend strength to the filtering theory - I think I'd
certainly wake up if somebody spoke in a normal voice in my room!). Then
the whole thing repeats - from 1/64th to full again. So the volume/time
graph would be something like:

               /|            /|            /|
______/ |_____/ |_____/ |   (etc.)

And that's it, that's all there is to it. Once you've set up the cycles
the way you want them (which just involves altering a few variables at
the start of the program) getting it running each night is just a matter
of typing in the delay time and letting it get on with it.

The interval between cycles, the volume increase with each cycle, and the
message text are all configurable. The message plays through the
computer's speech synthesiser which is very primitive but allows changing
the message to be as easy as typing in a line of text.

So, does it work?

Well, funnily enough it appears to. I got the whole thing working at
about 4:30am a few days ago. An hour and a half later I had my first ever
lucid dream. I had a false awakening, and went to turn the light on. It
didn't work, and that's when I started to suspect that I was in a dream.
Yes, I know that's a reality check-type thing, (before anybody starts the
flamethrowers going) BUT I am always turning lights on in dreams. They never
work and  it's never cued me to lucidty before. I think that what
happened is that the computer raised me overall lucidity to a point where I
_was more likely to notice_ that I was dreaming - I fully accept that by
itself the system isn't going to full lucidity but then hey, no method comes
with any guarantee!
Anyway, the whole thing lasted a very short time. I managed to get down
the corridor outside my room and bumped into a pillar that isn't there
(and that's when I became fully lucid). I tried flying (great feeling!)
and then I woke up. I remembered everything in _very_ vivid detail.

Now at the moment the program isn't really ready for release (if I did
release it it would be as PD or Shareware) and even if I did it would be
on the Amiga platform only. This post isn't to advertise the programme,
it's here to suggest that maybe a few of the programmers out there would
like to get working on something similar on other platforms, namely the
PC and Mac. There are a lot of improvements to be made, like making the
program use a speech sample of my own voice rather than the speech synth,
and playing around with the volume to find the optimum level for me, but
I thought I'd share this in the hope that some of you can try it for
yourselves. It's a very simple program - takes maybe 20 lines of code.

If people want to email me if they're interested then I can get some idea
of how much interest there is in an Amiga version. At the moment it does
everything _I_ want it to - I don't care about a pretty front end as long
as it does the job. But if people want it then I'll dress it up enough
for release.

So, there you have it. Something like the tape method but, (I reckon),
more adjustable and more likely to work because of the gradual increase
in volume. If anybody out there wants to get coding on it then please go
ahead - but I would ask that you stick a line in there saying that it's
based on this post. And let's keep it free or at least very cheap, huh?
I've always reckoned that lucid dreaming should be for everyone, not just
for those who can afford Novadreamers. A lot of us have access to a
computer: let's start using them!

Remember: I'm no expert on the neurophysiology of dreaming and most of
this is based on my (probably hugely flawed) premises. This is something
that worked for me. I'm giving no guarantees it'll work for anyone else
and I take no responsibility for any harm it causes! It's just an idea.
Take it or leave it.

                                                Have fun,
                                                  Philip Marley

 _|  |**************I want coffee and I want it NOW!******************|  |_
|_|  | Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! |  |_|
  |__| pjm100@unix.york.ac.uk http://www.york.ac.uk/~pjm100/Home.html |__|




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From: dsg119@psu.edu (Gordo)
Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 21:46:24 GMT
Organization: Penn State University
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References: <1995Feb16.191406.16982@leeds.ac.uk>
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Summary: Computer-based lucidity inducing method ate my hamster
Keywords: computer, lucid, dream, Amiga
X-Authinfo-User: dsg119@psu.edu

>Conclusion: If you had a system that slowly increased the volume of the
>message while you were sleeping, you might be able to jack the volume
>high enough to make yourself react without waking yourself up, because
>your brain would progressively filter and compensate - same way as a room
>can grow gradually dimmer while you're working in it and you won't
>notice, but if the change happened suddenly you certainly would.
>Tape is reasonably useless for this because you'd have to repeat your
>message into a microphone at a gradually increasing volume over and over
>again and oonce you've done it you've got no way of changing the speed
>the volume alters at or the message.

>a delay time before the first cycle begins. You enter it in minutes (I
>usually opt for 30).
>A timer is then displayed, counting down from the time you entered to
>zero, in minutes and seconds (useful if you wake up and want to know how
>much time you've got left before the message starts).
>When the timer has run down, the screen blanks (very important!) and the
>first cycle starts. The computer plays the message "You're dreaming". The
>volume is inaudible: 1/64th of what I consider to be a normal speaking
>volume. 20 seconds later there's another cycle, this time at 2/64th, and
>so on up to full volume (the fact that I don't wake up when it reaches
>maximum would seem to lend strength to the filtering theory - I think I'd
>certainly wake up if somebody spoke in a normal voice in my room!). Then
>the whole thing repeats - from 1/64th to full again. So the volume/time
>graph would be something like:
>So, there you have it. Something like the tape method but, (I reckon),
>more adjustable and more likely to work because of the gradual increase
>in volume. If anybody out there wants to get coding on it then please go
>ahead - but I would ask that you stick a line in there saying that it's
>based on this post. And let's keep it free or at least very cheap, huh?


Its a decent idea.  If there is enough interest in an IBM version, I would
be more than happy to code one and release as shareware.  I could have it
use Sound Blaster, with an option to record your own message or use a
default one.  You could also use the program to create your own tapes,
for those who don't sleep next to a computer, or who don't like to leave
their computer on while they sleep.

-Gordo


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From: BConner@max.tiac.net (Bruce Conner)
Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Date: 17 Feb 1995 08:10:36 GMT
Organization: The Internet Access Company
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I may be able to rig something in a hypercard stack for the mac.  I'll
give it a shot and see what happens.  If it works, I'll release it freeware!

Bruce Conner
BConner@max.tiac.net



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From: alw1@aol.com (AlW1)
Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Date: 19 Feb 1995 16:32:53 -0500
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I would be very interested in the program. Will you release it on
Compuserve or AOL? If not, please let me know where to get it.


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From: TimAmmons 
Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 13:25:37 -0500 (EST)
Organization: Concentric Research Corporation
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> Its a decent idea.  If there is enough interest in an IBM version, I would
> be more than happy to code one and release as shareware.  I could have it
> use Sound Blaster, with an option to record your own message or use a
> default one.  You could also use the program to create your own tapes,

Gordo, I was just thinking of coding a program myself, but I really don't
have time to devote to it now. If you release one as shareware I'll try it
and as long as the registration fee is reasonable I'll gladly pay if it
works (ie if I have LDs!). I don't know how to use Mime yet, but I can
decode uuencoded messages. You'll probably get better response if you
uuencode it.



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From: dsg119@psu.edu (Gordo)
Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 23:57:03 GMT
Organization: Penn State University
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>Gordo, I was just thinking of coding a program myself, but I really don't
>have time to devote to it now. If you release one as shareware I'll try it
>and as long as the registration fee is reasonable I'll gladly pay if it
>works (ie if I have LDs!). I don't know how to use Mime yet, but I can
>decode uuencoded messages. You'll probably get better response if you
>uuencode it.

There has been a lot of interest, so I'm going to make that IBM version.
I'm currently working on a project, so it won't be done until sometime
next month.  I'll uuencode it and put it on some ftp site and let the
net know when its done.

-Gordo


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From: pjm100@york.ac.uk (Philip Marley)
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Message-ID: <1995Feb19.202358.14502@leeds.ac.uk>
Organization: The University of York, UK
Date: Sun, 19 Feb 1995 20:23:58 +0000 (GMT)
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Well, thanks for all the interest shown so far!

Progress so far is as follows:

- At least one person is working on a PC version
- The Amiga version should be finished within a few days and uploaded to
aminet.
- After doing a few experiments it looks like:
        - The ideal delay time (for me) is 10 seconds
        - It's actually more effective if you go to sleep with the cycle
already on rather than use a timer (I'll still include the timer as an
option in the finished version, though)
- Some good news: I've now been using LIP for a little under a week and
so far it's given me lucid dreams on two nights. On the first one (the
one I reported earlier) the dream lasted only 10 seconds. But two days
ago I tried sleeping after waking up and had _four_ lucid dreams, all
vivid with fairly good recall and a lot of fun! This means I've now had
five lucid dreams in a week, which seems promising in the extreme...

I'll post something when I've finished the Amiga version...

                                                Philip

 _|  |**************I want coffee and I want it NOW!******************|  |_
|_|  | Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! Anime! |  |_|
  |__| pjm100@unix.york.ac.uk http://www.york.ac.uk/~pjm100/Home.html |__|





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From: matrix@gonzo.wolfe.net (Chris Spiegel)
Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: Re: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
Date: 19 Feb 1995 21:28:59 GMT
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In article , dsg119@psu.edu (Gordo) says:
>Its a decent idea.  If there is enough interest in an IBM version, I would
>be more than happy to code one and release as shareware.  I could have it

If the technique worked, and the program was cheap, I would be more than
happy to register.  I haven't gotten lucid dreaming to work for me using
the reality checks, either...

        Matrix


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Newsgroups: alt.dreams.lucid
Subject: New lucidity inducing technique a success! (LONG!)
From: john.mott@nashville.com (John Mott)
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Date: 17 Feb 95 07:06:50
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        Philip,
        That sounds very ingenius. You obviiously thought this through
        very well. I have a PC with a SoundBlaster and this is the first
        time that I have been inspired to try to do something like that.
        I think you may have hit on something with the gradually increasing
        volume idea. It sounds as if that would compensate for our ability
        to screen out ambient sounds.

        Good work, and keep us posted as to your results!

        John Mott