In 1974, I wrote of a crude lucid dream induction device that I constructed out of Radio Shack parts. It was fun to signal the dreaming world from the waking; however my true ‘dream’ was a device that could allow two or more dreamers to communicate with each other. Now, with the advent of dream masks such as the REM Dreamer and NovaDreamer which allow the lucid dreamer to signal back to the device, it is possible, with the right mask/software and a website controller program (such as multi-player game sites and chat sites use), to coordinate two or more LD masks with computer connections and allow simple communication between dreamers; a multi-player dream game, if you will.
The ingredients for multi-player lucid dream connectivity are:
1. A lucid dream cuing device such as a dream mask or audio device with dreamer response detection and interpretation.
2. Computer software (LD program) that has two-way, real-time communication with the cuing device.
3. Computer software (LD program extension) that has two-way, real-time communication with a remote host site.
4. A multi-player host website program that receives input from the LD programs and issues messages to them.
Here are a few scenarios that could be fun for dreamers in a multi-player environment:
1. Two players register and log onto the LD multi-player website, selecting the other player to communicate with that night and which player is to be the guide player (first dreamer cued). The respective local LD programs monitor the eye movements during the sleep of the players and upon REM detection send a message to the website that the respective dreamer is in REM; the website host program waits for both players to reach REM, then the host sends a command to the local LD software to signal the guide dreamer via audio/visual cue that she is dreaming. When (if) she becomes lucid, this lucid dreamer now signals (via eye movement) the mask/program to stop cueing and, in addition, send a message to the host program to notify the other dreamer that he is dreaming by audio/visual cue (could even be a pre-recorded audio cue in the guide’s own voice). The signal to the recipient’s to become lucid is now coming directly from the guide dreamer and may carry more meaning than a neutral cue (and lots more fun). If one has a penchant for mutual dreaming, this may prove also to be a useful initiator for such a dream.
2. A lucid dream race: players log on and join the race, then go to sleep. The host site waits until all the respective LD local programs indicate REM state for all the players (hopefully at some point all REM’s coincide). The host site sends commands to all the local programs to cue all the dreamers more or less at the same time. The dreamers, upon becoming lucid, signal to stop the cue and, in addition, send a message to the host site that they are lucid. The winner of the race is recorded on the host site and the players can view the results. Just for fun, but competition can have a strong motivational effect, as most psychologists affirm.
3. This multi-player scenario would require a mask with various colored lights or audio cues and dreamer feedback variability. The dreamers, upon both becoming lucid, signal different eye movements to the other dreamer (via the local LD programs’ connection to the host website) which result in varied cues, the meaning of which is agreed upon beforehand when the players register for this ‘game.’ A “hello” signal from one dreamer can result in a ‘blue’ cue to the other; an “I am flying” signal from the other dreamer could result in a ‘yellow’ cue to the first, and so on. Audio messages could be used as well.
4. Masks or other cuing devices with multiple cuing options such as varied colors could also be used to enable more than two dreamers to send messages to the entire group in the same session. Dreamers sign up for the night’s session and assign themselves a color cue or audio cue. As the dreamers become lucid, the host software sends that dreamer’s cue sign to the rest of the group. A dreamer, for example, recognizes the ‘red’ cue as “Mike has just joined us” and the ‘blue’ cue as “Sally’s lucid now too.”
I'm looking for other ideas for multi-player dream games.
