Alternative to REM goggles

A couple of days ago I've done the following experiment: I took my cellphone, disabled sound and vibration, and set a timer to activate in 5 hours right before I got to bed. The idea is that the light of the cellphone will flash when the timer reaches zero, which would hopefully coincide with my REM period and help me attain lucidity. Sound and vibration were obviously turned off to prevent me from waking up. I've put the cellphone on a chair next to my bed at approximately my eye level. The disadvantage is that I may be lying with my back to the cellphone when it's set off (I turn around a lot), but since I always close my window and generally like to sleep in complete darkness, it's more or less guaranteed that at least some light would reach my eyes during sleep. So it's basically an alternative for people like me who don't have the money, the credit card and/or the will to order or buy NovaDream or whatever those goggle things are called via the internet.

The results - I had a false awakening, saw the cellphone flashing, and thought the light woke me up. And the weird thing is that a friend of mine was there in the room with me. If I haven't been so stupid and done a reality check, I would've become lucid immediately. The moral of the story - practicing reality checks helps. I think I'll give it a second try tonight.

Thoughts?

It should be simple to create a simple timer into which you could plug a desk lamp as well. It would most certainly generate enough light so that you could see it from most positions.

I agree with you, reality checks are the bomb and should be practiced continuously, especially in your bedroom :)

Well, tried it again today. Didn't work at all this time. Tricky thing. I'm not giving up though, I'll keep trying.

I have an old timer thing, so if I can work out out how to use it then I'll try it with a desk lamp tonight.

Maybe I should turn vibration on, and put it somewhere in my bed? Maybe a slight vibrating sensation would work better than a feeble light? I might've tried what you suggested with a desk lamp if I had the electronics know-how (or a desk lamp for that matter).