Lucid dreaming tool using the Zeo and home automation
I recently completed and tested a Zeo lucid dreaming project using a Zeo (http://www.myzeo.com/), the Zeo Raw Data Library (http://developers.myzeo.com/ra…..a-library/) and the ActiveHome remote lamp module from X10.com (X10.com - Security Cameras, X10 Home Security, Wireless Camera, Home Automation, Electronics and More!) to send an overhead lamp signal (and computer beep) when REM is detected by my program. With the free SDK from X!0, I was able in a few program lines to wait until 5 hours after sleep and then 5 minutes into REM to send on/off commands to the lamp to cue me I was dreaming.
I have always had good dream incorporation for flashing lights with the old dream masks, but the masks were uncomfortable and slid around and often failed to recognize REM. With the Zeo (which I find quite comfortable and fairly accurate) I can track real-time REM and other sleep stages and also leverage the Sleep Stream Online website (Sleep Stream Online) that may in the future offer synchronized lucid cues to multiple dreamers and maybe even dream-to-dream communication.
In theory, the computer screen could be made to flash as a lucid cue, but the size and brightness of my netbook screen is questionable for this and the direction of my sleeping may occlude the screen light enough to make the cue ineffective. I figured an overhead lamp or light can be as bright or dim as I choose (though my neighbors may be curious of the red or blue flashing room in the middle of the night).
If you are interested in this, you will need, in addition to a Zeo, a home automation kit (fifty bucks), the Raw Data Library, Python and the ActiveHome SDK (ActiveHome Professional: SDK, Software Development Kit) .
Also, there are two ways to control the lamp: via a direct command using a AHCMD file in the SDK or via a COM (ActiveX) object call (to use COM with Python you will need to load pywin32 (http://sourceforge.net/project…..s/pywin32/). I use COM in the source code below, but you can also use the command file like:
import subprocess
subprocess.check_call(['ahcmd', 'sendplc', 'A3', 'on'])
Below is my bare-bones Python program. Naturally, this can be extended for night-long cues or stopping the light with deliberate dream eye-movements (using the REM eye movement detection of the Raw Data Library) and all kinds of other stuff. To get really wild using eye movement detection and home automation tools, you could actually turn on your coffee maker in the morning from within a dream. What a world!
Code:
# lucidLampCue
# System Libraries
import time
from time import localtime,strftime
import sys
import winsound
import pythoncom
# Zeo Libraries
from ZeoRawData import BaseLink, Parser
from ZeoRawData.Utility import *
# ActiveHome Libraries (Windows COM)
from win32com.client import Dispatch
# User customizable variables
port = 'COM3'
class lucidCue:
def updateSlice(self, slice):
if not slice['SleepStage'] == None:
self.updateCue(slice['SleepStage'])
def updateCue(self, stage):
print stage
if stage == 'REM':
if time.clock() > 300:
print time.clock()
for i in range(1, 10):
self.sendCue()
print time.localtime()
sys.exit()
def sendCue(self):
pythoncom.CoInitialize()
ah = Dispatch('X10.ActiveHome')
ah.SendAction("sendplc", "a3 on")
winsound.PlaySound("SystemExclamation", winsound.SND_ALIAS)
time.sleep(1)
ah.SendAction("sendplc", "a3 off")
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Initialize Serial Link
link = BaseLink.BaseLink(port)
parser = Parser.Parser()
cue = lucidCue()
time.sleep(20000)
# Add Callbacks and Start the Link
link.addCallback(parser.update)
parser.addSliceCallback(cue.updateSlice)
link.start()
# Infinitely loop to allow the script to run continuously
while(True):
time.sleep(5)
