visual aid experiment

Hi folks.

I have created a program to quickly flash "The next time that I am dreaming, I want to remember to realise that I am dreaming" on the screen every 5 seconds. I work on the computer 10 hours a day, so by my calculation, this phrase should theoretically flash 7200 times each day. Currently running for about 2 hours now, with about 8 hours to go.

I'll see if I get any LDs within a week. After a week, I will add another phrase, so 2 different phrases will be flashed. Then i'll add another phrase in the 3rd and 4th week. So after a month, I will have 4 different phrases flashing - first one, and then after 5 seconds, the next one, and so on. And then I'll use the 4 phrases forever. So in a month, 28,800 flashes would have been made. Some of that has got to stick in my brain.

Who thinks that I will get some LDs? :D

I doubt inducing lucidity is something as simple as putting messages in your screen...

But I'm rooting to be wrong, so good luck there :) Who knows, maybe you'll end up dreaming that you're in a computer and that message will actually show up ^^ Just be careful not to turn those events into automatic ones. I'm assuming that after watching the message so many times per day your brain will actually just ignore it, so you won't get many benefits. This is why people are encouraged to take their time doing reality checks. Repeating "Am I dreaming?" without stopping to think doesn't seem to help much.

Post results, and best of luck!

Well, I am hoping that that repeatedly seeing the message will have a subliminal-like effect. But I got my maths wrong. 7200 flashes/day = 201600/month. A lot of that has got to stick in my subconscious.

Doesn't matter what I am doing on the computer, the messages will always show on top of everything else, and then quickly disappear in 7/10 of a second. So whilst I can see all the words, I can't consciously process all the words, but my subconscious can.

Here is a screen cap.

Attachment 4722

I'm using subliminal messages software 3-5 hours daily for about 5 months now and i don't see any changes, i don't even noticing it any more as i got used to it after so long time, it flashes every 5 seconds and i don't see any improvement in succeeding in LD.
Maybe i should start using those affirmations by my self before i go to sleep to kinda activate it or something, because it looks like it doesn't work just on it's own.

I think that's because subliminal messages were shown to have very little success. You can find several articles that investigate the effectiveness (lack of) of subliminal messages if you dig a bit in google. Sadly, it seems that such methods don't have much success at lucid dreaming, especially because it's all about being conscious and critical regarding the input and your place in the universe: awareness and questioning :)

Still, it does seem to work for some people, just not the majority of us ^^

LD Count:
======

Day 1: 0 :)

I'll add that I've been working on dream recall and keeping a dream journal for the last 2 weeks, as well as reading Laberg's book, which all worked for me in the past. But the LDs weren't exactly coming thick and fast.

So if I do have an LD(I had one a few days ago, before this experiment), it's not clear cut whether this visual aid experiment is the sole reason. That muddies the results somewhat.

But if this experiment works, then I should be getting much more LDs, more consistently. Time will tell my friends. Time will tell.:p

Day 2: 0

It has become clear to me that my eyes are almost never looking at the centre of the screen, so I rarely consciously see the message, even with my peripheral vision. So it's effectiveness is significantly reduced(but maybe my subconscious sees and processes it all) . So I will increase the size of the message window. I will also try to display the message at 5 areas of the screen at once ie. centre, and on the 4 edges of the screen, so that I have a better chance of seeing it.

EDIT: Just woken up(now 7 am), written this post. Now I will write down a dream in my journal, and lie in bed for another hour or so. Maybe I will drift back to sleep and have an LD. :)

Day 3: 0. Was with friends all day yesterday, so didn't even use the computer.

Rather than update this thread everyday with really nothing to show, I will update this thread if I have an LD.

For the rest of the time, assume that I have not had an LD. :D

I am doing an experiment with my friend actually on subliminal messaging. Most of the subjects are on Trial Four out of nine, and one of them actually had a ten per cent contamination of his psyche on the message that we put in: FOLLOWING ME. It's successful recently. We tested them with word association to see psychological patterns. I can tell more info, but it would be too long to type right now.

Well, after 3 weeks, I have had no LDs. I am starting to think that this will not yield any LDs at all, and that thought might actually work against the aim of getting LDs.

So I will stop and move onto my next experiment. I will write software to flash a light onto my face( and eyes) starting from 60 minutes after I go to bed. The duration of the flashing will be 10 seconds, every 5 minutes, with each flash a second apart. So basically 10 flashes every 5 minutes, after I am well and truly asleep. The light is an LED cable connected by USB to my laptop, which is sitting on the drawer at the head of the bed. I will start another thread for this experiment, when I have set everything up.

And if this doesn't work, I will make my own version of the Nova Dreamer, with motion detecting sensors in a goggle and flashing lights. One way or another, lucid aids WILL work for me. :D

Not able to edit my last post. Just wanted to say that I am really not that keen to immediately start another experiment after just finishing the previous one. So I will take a break for a week or 2 or until I am sure that I am motivated enough to see the next experiment to completion.

I've decided instead of using the computer to do the experiment(I've yet to buy the USB light), I will use an Arduino microcontroller that I've got lying around. Very easy to hook a little LED light to it and program it. I've already got all the parts, so won't need to make any purchases for the experiment.

Bye! :cheeky: