Thread: Unique way to jot down dreams (for best recall)

I don't know if anyone else has said something about this, but just in case I thought I'd share this little tip with everyone.

Windows Vista and 7 include a nifty little speech recognition utility. Originally when I got my Vista machine I set it up just because it was fun to use, but upon getting into lucid dreaming I began to think up other possible uses.

The trick:

If you haven't already, set up Windows Speech Recognition to your voice, and then tweak it and your microphone's settings around until it's decently accurate with dictation even when you're not speaking very loudly.

Now you'll have to be able to put the microphone by the head of your bed, so either use a laptop or move your desktop PC close to where you sleep (or stock up on 3.5mm jack extension cords!). If you wanted to get really creative, you could even set the mic up to dangle a foot or so above your face for best reception. You'll also want to disable automatic sleep mode, hibernation, power offs, and even the screensaver on your PC. Let the monitor turn itself off at the soonest possible time, though, or alternatively (for desktop users) just hit the monitor power button and manually turn it off.

Then, leaving a text application open, speech recognition turned on, and your computer turned on, you can attempt to lucid dream. When you wake up, stay in your bed and keep your eyes closed and focus on remembering the dreams you just had. Think out loud. Don't worry about making sense right now or explaining anything; just getting the dream written down is the point here.

When you're done, you can get up, take a look at your computer, and there you'll have your notes all written out for you (minus one or two inevitable errors)! Or alternatively, you can let yourself go right back to sleep.

Advantages:

-Better/more accurate notes from fresher memory

-Faster than writing

-Makes it easier to go back to sleep after note-taking

Disadvantages:

-Setup can take a lot of work

-PC noises may keep some awake (personally I can't sympathize)

-Your computer gets left on all night, which is hard on the PSU if it gets used much during the day as well.


Anyway, being a computer nerd I like doing this, and I really do think it helps my notes be more accurate. Plus I get to laugh at some of the weird things I say (or that the computer mistakenly thinks I said), so I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Have fun!