Program Your Dream With a New App

Do you know just what you’d like to dream about tonight? There’s an app for that! A new iPhone application called Dream:ON allows you to choose a “SoundScape” intended to enhance and manipulate your dreams.

Creator Richard Wiseman, a psychologist and professor at the University of Hertfordshire, told one media outlet that “Getting a good night’s sleep and having pleasant dreams boosts people’s productivity and is essential for their psychological and physical well-being.

“Despite this, we know very little about how to influence dreams. This experiment aims to change that,” he added.

Users select the time they want to wake up and choose their ideal dream scenario from the options provided (there are two free soundscapes—Into the City and Peaceful Garden—and more that can be purchased for 99 cents).

The iPhone is placed face down on the mattress—close to the head—and uses a motion sensor to detect when the sleeper is dreaming (during REM sleep). This is when the chosen dream option is engaged.

The experiment part is what Wiseman calls the dream manipulation experiment. He hopes to engage thousands of people to use the app, record their dreams in the app’s dream bank, and then post on Twitter and Facebook. He also suggests tagging friends who appear in the dreams (as you would tag a photo).

Wiseman plans to collect these records to find out how easy it is to influence dreams and intends to share his findings at the Edinburgh International Science Festival next year.

The app is free and can be downloaded by iPhone users; an Android version is planned for later in the year as are SoundScapes featuring the mimicked voices of celebrities, actors, and even US president Barack Obama.

Are you already dreaming about your favourite dreamy SoundScape?