WILD iPhone App Giveaway

**bwobbit** · 03-31-2011 10:44 PM

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## UPDATE ##
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### The giveaway has ended, as all ten codes have been given away.
### If you received a code and are using the app, please feel free to
### comment on this thread with your opinions and feature requests.

Hello,

Today I released a new iPhone app called the Dreamcontroller in the App Store (it's listed under "Control Your Dreams"). I created it as a way to increase the odds that a lucid dream might be entered from a waking state.

Full details on the app can be found here:

itunes.apple.com/us/app/control-your-dreams/id427457337?mt=8&ls=1

(Sorry, I'm too new to properly post a link.)

I would love to know what the Dream Views community thinks of my app. I am giving away promo codes for free access (the app otherwise costs $0.99) to the first ten interested people.

Please send me a private message if you're interested.

Thanks very much!

**bwobbit** · 03-31-2011 11:14 PM

I've given one code away, leaving nine to go.

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 02:19 AM

Another code issued. Eight to go.

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 02:19 AM

And another... That leaves seven.

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 02:34 AM

A member thoughtfully suggested that I should provide some more detail about the application, so here goes.

The idea is very simple. You can use the app to set an alarm that will sound after a delay that you select. You can configure that alarm to sound after anywhere from 15 minutes to 8 hours. The intention is for the alarm to wake you up (no surprises there).

I would think that the best time to wake would be after your first REM cycle (perhaps 3 hours, give or take, after first falling asleep), but it seemed that research showed a variety of successful wake times for optimal WILD. Anyhow, the app gives you the flexibility to experiment.

As mentioned above, after the sleep interval the alarm goes off. To silence the alarm, you have to correctly answer a simple math problem. The idea there is to ensure a minimum level of awareness to increase the odds of WILD and decrease the odds of silencing the alarm without ever fully waking up.

Once the alarm is silenced (and presumably you are at least somewhat aware), a simple countdown with optional aural and tactile feedback (tick sounds and vibration) displays large numbers decrementing from a preset value (you pick a number from 10 to 500 in the app settings) once per second. The idea there is to use a pretty standard hypnotic technique to maintain awareness into a hypnogogic state. Once the timer hits zero, with some luck, you're dreaming while fully aware.

I figure the app should, with practice, increase the odds of successful WILD.

One final note: I added something I called the "Dream Tunnel". It's intended to be a hypnotic visualization along the lines of a common optical illusion. In combination with ticks sounds, I found that, at a minimum, it really captures the attention. Whether or not it works for WILD, you'll have to be the judge. You can turn the Dream Tunnel on or off in the app settings tab. The Dream Tunnel appears over the countdown.

Anyhow, I hope that helps. Please don't hesitate to request a code if you'd like to give the app a try.

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 02:38 AM

One last thing I should mention: The app doesn't go to sleep (no pun intended), so you either need to leave your iPhone plugged in or, better yet, turn it face down on your dresser, etc. It uses the proximity sensor to turn off the screen, just like the screen cuts off when you take a call and press the phone against the side of your face.

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 03:25 AM

Six promo codes left

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 03:25 AM

Make that five...

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 12:12 PM

Four left...

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 12:12 PM

Three...

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 12:12 PM

Two...

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 01:20 PM

One...

**bwobbit** · 04-01-2011 01:21 PM

Zero. Thanks everyone for showing interest. Feel free to post your comments and feature requests to this thread!

**joehop67** · 04-02-2011 06:43 AM

i hear this app looks promising what time do you recomend the setting at

**bwobbit** · 04-04-2011 08:38 PM

Thanks for encouragement. I would think that at around 3 hours, you should be at the margin of awareness while in your second REM cycle, and that that would be a perfect time to give it a try. Either that or closer to 6 hours later (i.e., in the middle of what should be your last and longest REM cycle). But it's tough to say. I imagine everybody should be different. What ought to hold true, though, is that use of an app like mine should guarantee you opportunities for WILD. At that point (hopefully) it becomes a numbers game. No way it will work every time. But if it works 25% of the time, that means 7 or 8 WILD per month. Now control is a whole other matter, but again, it gives you the opportunity.

**macronencer** · 04-05-2011 08:36 PM

This is a really nicely-presented app, thanks! I actually went and bought it straight away and I've tried it once so far. I'm not an experienced dreamer so I'm perhaps not the best person to comment, but I have a couple of thoughts:

1. The thing that I had most trouble with in actual use was that the ticking sound was not regular. Presumably this was due to some kind of timing loop getting interference from other phone activity and disrupting the cycle. Would there be some way of preventing this? Whatever the reason, it distracted me and made it hard to fall into the hypnotic mode.

2. Given that it's recommended to put the phone face-down to conserve battery life, I'm not really sure how the visual elements are supposed to help... I decided to count down with the ticks after putting the phone back down and lying back in bed again. However, I wonder whether maybe an actual recording of someone saying the numbers might help...?

3. It would be nice to have an alarm time setting that goes all the way down to zero, or at least to one minute. The reason is that curious new users will want to see what the app is going to do when the alarm goes off, and they don't want to wait 15 minutes to find out

Overall, a very good first version. Probably a good idea to wait for lots of feedback from users before rushing to change anything.

**bwobbit** · 04-05-2011 10:05 PM

macronencer:

Thanks very much for the feedback. To answer your questions:

1. The ticking sound should be uniform. The phone ticks based on an event that fires once a second. That said, sounds like you have it right: something is interfering with your phone's ability to find time to make the sound. Could be that you have an older phone. Is that the case? I designed the app using a 3GS with 8GB. Also, perhaps you're running background apps? If it's the former, there's not much I can do for you, though I will be happy to send you a promo code for an older-device-optimized update if I can figure out how to create one. If it's the latter, I would recommend trying the app with no background apps running.

2. The intention was to have the phone face down only while you sleep. That way, no battery power is wasted on something you won't see anyhow. You can always pick up the phone during this phase (the countdown to the alarm) and the screen will turn back on, say when you want to check to see how long until the alarm goes off if you happen to be up for a moment. But I intended that the phone would be used face up during the induction phase (the countdown with the optional ticks). But now that you mention it... I suppose it's worth considering what happens at the end of induction. Hopefully, you're asleep. If that's the case, what exactly happens to your phone? It's probably fair to say there's a 50% chance it's face down. Of course, if it's face up, the app will burn through your battery reserve. There may be something I can do about that. I'll have to look into it.

3. I totally understand. While developing the app, I included a special 1 second countdown setting. Perhaps in a future version, I will include an instant induction option.

Thanks again for your insights!

**USA** · 04-05-2011 10:33 PM

Hey you say it goes into sleep mode when you turn if face down, but I can't tell if it does, and I don't wanna waste my whole battery overnight. How do I know when it goes into sleep mode?

**macronencer** · 04-05-2011 10:53 PM

Thanks for the replies bwobbit - I actually have an iPhone 4, so it's actually newer than the development model, rather than older :-\ I will try running it again with all other apps closed, and see if that helps.

**bwobbit** · 04-06-2011 02:30 PM

Whenever the proximity sensor is covered, the screen will shut off. Apple built this into the iPhone so that the screen would shut off when you press the phone against your face during a call. If you look carefully at the front of your phone, just to the left of the ear speaker (i.e., where your ear more or less goes when you take a call), you should be able to see a circular sensor or two under the black glass.

In any event, you can confirm that your phone screen is shutting off when face down be performing this test: run the app and cover the top of the phone (above the screen) with your hand. The screen should shut off. Remove your hand. It should turn back on.

I realize that you can't really see it turn off when you place the phone face down. It's sort of like the fridge light. It goes off, even if you can't see it.