Scientists have brought science fiction closer to reality by achieving the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreaming.
In an experiment that looks like a scene from the movie 'Inception', REMspace – a California-based startup that designs technology to improve sleep and lucid dreaming – allegedly exchanged a message between two people who were sleeping.
The company used “specially designed equipment” that included a “server”, a “device”, “Wifi” and “sensors”, but did not specify the exact technology they used.
Study participants were sleeping in separate homes when REMspace researchers transmitted a word created through a unique language between them.
A neurotechnology company claims to have achieved the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreams
REMspace CEO and founder Michael Raduga said: “Yesterday, communicating in dreams seemed like science fiction.
'Tomorrow will be so common that we won't be able to imagine our lives without this technology.
“This opens the door to countless commercial applications, reshaping the way we think about communication and interaction in the dream world.”
The technology has not yet been reviewed or replicated by scientists. But if it is validated, it would be an important milestone for sleep research and could provide applications for mental health treatment, skills training and more, REMspace said.
REMspace used “specially designed equipment” to allow two individuals to successfully exchange a simple message while lucid dreaming, the company said.
Lucid dreaming occurs when a person is aware that they are dreaming while still in the dream state.
This allows them to take self-directed actions in their dreams, rather than randomly interacting with the “dream world” without any sense of control.
This phenomenon happens during REM sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, when dreaming normally occurs.
REMspace did not reveal exactly what equipment was used in their experiment, but said the experiment involved a “device” that tracked participants’ brain waves and other biological data during the experiment.
It also involved a 'server' that can detect when participants enter a lucid dream and generate messages that are transmitted to them.
Two study participants slept in separate homes while their brain waves were tracked remotely by the device, which fed the data to the server.
Two study participants slept in their homes while their brain waves were tracked remotely by the device, which fed the data to the server
Once the server detected that a participant had entered a lucid dream, it generated a random word and transmitted it to them through headphones.
Eight minutes later, the second participant had a lucid dream. The server transmitted the first participant's stored message to her, which she repeated when she woke up
Once the server detected that a participant had entered a lucid dream, it generated a random word in the special language and transmitted it to them through headphones.
The participant then repeated that word in their dream, and that response was captured and stored on the server.
Eight minutes later, the second participant had a lucid dream. The server transmitted the first participant's stored message to her, which she repeated when she woke up.
REMspace was able to repeat this experience with another pair of participants. But the study will need to undergo rigorous review before the company can definitively say it has achieved dream communication.
Raduga, who is confident in his results, is widely known for his ambitious – and sometimes bizarre – experiments.
Raduga, 40, had an electrode implanted in his brain to 'control his dreams'
The electrode implant is made of platinum and silicon. Raduga stated that electrical triggers sent to this electrode can influence the course of lucid dreams
In 2023, he put his life at risk by trying to implant a microchip in his own brain to control his dreams.
The 40-year-old, who has no qualifications in neurosurgery, compared his extremely dangerous experience to the film Inception – claiming that one day his “electrode” will have the potential to change the course of lucid dreaming.
Horrifying footage of the procedure shows him holding the skin with paper clips while demolishing the back of the skull with a drill he found in a hardware store.
He inserted the chip into his brain after watching hours of neurosurgery videos on YouTube and practicing on five sheep – he didn't tell anyone about his plans.
The chip ended up being removed at the hospital after five weeks.
The highly dangerous study has not appeared in any peer-reviewed journal and is not supported by any university, but Raduga said he needed to do it himself.
“I'm glad I survived, but I was ready to die,” he told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview last year.
Now, he has his sights set on another ambitious goal: enabling real-time communication in lucid dreams.
“We believe that REM sleep and related phenomena such as lucid dreaming will become the next big industry after AI,” said Raduga.
