Lucid Dreaming Induction Device

[unseen wombat]

Okay, here's the project. I want to build a lucid dreaming induction device. What it will do is wait 20 minutes after being turned on, then blink two LED's at a rate of about 2 to 3 times per minute. (When placed over your eyelids while you sleep, this is proven to help induce a lucid dream, meaning, a dream in which you realize you are dreaming).

Anyway, I need to build this out of cheap, readily available parts. By readily available, I mean, in stock at the local Radio Shack (Don't have Fry's in my part of the country). I'd like for it to run off a 9-volt battery, because the clips snap on nicely and won't come loose in bed.

I know a 555 timer can handle the blinking. I don't know what size capacitors and resistors to hook up to it though, and I don't know how to make it wait 20 minutes before turning on. (Need to be fully asleep and dreaming before the blinking starts). I suppose you could have one 555 operating in monostable mode, (to delay the start of the blinking), which activates a second 555 operating in astable mode (to blink).

If there is another way to do this, possibly with fewer components, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Remember, this needs to be kept near, or maybe even on the bed while sleeping, so a big clunky circuit board with a dozen components that might get rolled over on is impractical. If you know of any other readily available chips that would work better, to which I wouldn't have to hook as many resistors and capacitors, please let me know. The fewer the better.

I know I'm pretty stupid regarding electronics stuff, but me and a lot of other people at dreamviews.com would really appreciate your help. Thanks everybody.

 

[Norlin]

heh, I just watched a show on this the other day, the best of these devices detect when your eyes start REM and then do their blinky thing, 20 minutes is probably just a guideline, though I know when I go to sleep, sometimes it can take up to an hour to fall asleep.

 

[unseen wombat]

Yeah, the best ones detect REM. We're trying to build a poor man's version. If you wake up after about 5 hours of sleep, stay up for an hour, then go back to bed, you're pretty much guaranteed to begin dreaming right upon falling asleep. So we're not too concerned with REM detection. If we could fiddle with the timing by plugging in a different capacitor, say 9 nF for 20 minutes 6 nF for 30, (or whatever), that would be great, then people could customize it to their own sleep cycle.

I know this could probably be done with one single programmable microchip, but that's beyond most of us dreamers. And I don't know, but I think those are expensive and not readily available. We just need to keep it down to as few components as possible while still being buildable by dummies.

 

[ericgibbs]

hi,
Are you planning to sell this device or is it a one off..

If its for trials I would use a laptop, you could get all the time delays you need and also flash the LED's at any rate you choose, using the parallel port.

Why do want to lucid dream, there are other self taught methods that can be used while normal dreaming to switch you to lucid.

 

[unseen wombat]

No, no, these aren't for sale. I'm just putting together a tutorial on how to build your own lucid dreaming mask cheaply and easily. The novadreamer costs over a hundred dollars, which is beyond the reach of many dreamers.

We do know of the several techniques for naturally inducing lucid dreams. DILD, DEILD, MILD, WILD, etc, as well as various vitamins that will increase your chanses. What I'm trying to do here is known as EILD, or "Electronically Induced Lucid Dream." Commercial products like the Novadreamer fall into this category.

Anyway, your suggestion to use the laptop is great. I have even more questions now. Could you tell me more about it?

+What pins in the serial port would I connect the LEDs to? {Edit: I just hunted around Google and found out it's pins 2 through 9, and the ground is like pin 19? I think? Right? Do I need a separate power supply for the LED's? Or will the computer supply the voltage through the parallel port}?

+How would I connect them to the pins? {Edit: I just would plug the leads into the holes of the parallel port, correct?}

+Should I get a plug-in thing for the parallel port and cut the wire and attach the LED's to that? Is there a special piece of hardware that I would need to get?{Edit: If I would just plug them into the holes of the parallel port, nevermind this one}

+How do I go about setting up the timer on the laptop? Do I use the Windows Task Scheduler?

+How do I make it output a signal to the parallel port? And how do I make that signal be "blink 2 times a minute?" Do I need some special software?

Thanks for the suggestion, this is great. I think most all of us have laptops. If we just knew how to set it up to do this for us.

 

[HarveyH42]

Not sure if any of this are exactly what you are looking for, but should be easy to adapt. Basically the same principal, different frequency. Haven't look at these projects in any detail, perhaps it is the same thing. Anyway, worth the look.

http://www.ullasmann.eu/Alternative.htm

 

[mindlessmalk]

You should checkout Brainwave Generator, and gnaural.
They use sound to do the same thing. Brainwave Generator also has outputs specifically for light. You can even vary the rate of flashing over a period of time. It awesome!
I have been listening to a custom cycle at night for 3 hours as i sleep. It goes from 12Hz down to 6Hz with peaks into the 14Hz range(representing dram cycles). I have not had a lucid dream yet, but they have all been more magnified and memorable... i am on my way.
Keep in touch i would like to find out how this works for you.

Nate

 

[ericgibbs]

Anyway, your suggestion to use the laptop is great. I have even more questions now. Could you tell me more about it?

+What pins in the serial port would I connect the LEDs to? {Edit: I just hunted around Google and found out it's pins 2 through 9, and the ground is like pin 19? I think? Right?
Thats correct.

Do I need a separate power supply for the LED's?
No, for standard Red leds the parallel port should drive them OK, via a resistor, about 270R
Or will the computer supply the voltage through the parallel port}?
Yes
+How would I connect them to the pins? {Edit: I just would plug the leads into the holes of the parallel port, correct?}
Not really the best way..

+Should I get a plug-in thing for the parallel port and cut the wire and attach the LED's to that? Is there a special piece of hardware that I would need to get?{Edit: If I would just plug them into the holes of the parallel port, nevermind this one}
Its a 25way 'D' type connector, not expensive.

+How do I go about setting up the timer on the laptop? Do I use the Windows Task Scheduler?
No.
+How do I make it output a signal to the parallel port? And how do I make that signal be "blink 2 times a minute?" Do I need some special software?
Yes, the software is very simple program. Do you have access to friends who write in Visual Basic 5.?
Thanks for the suggestion, this is great. I think most all of us have laptops. If we just knew how to set it up to do this for us.

Hi,
Hope this covers your questions.

By using a laptop for this project, with a little software, it creates a great number of possible enhancements to the concept...

 

[unseen wombat]

Okay, here's what I've found. Would this code work for what I want to do, if I removed the user input parts, and if I modified the timer to be 20,000 ms? I'm still not sure how to get it to delay 20 minutes. I found it by doing a google search for "blink LED parallel port." This guy apparently wanted to do something similar.

//This example code shows how to switch a LED on/off in Visual C++.
//We use two variables N and L explained below.

//I am assuming you have some knowledge in C++. Instruction to connect the LED is given in the Tutorial.







#include <iostream.h>  //The most important include to display data on screen.
#include <conio.h>     //Include for outp and inp functions for the printer port.
#include <windows.h>   //For _sleep functions for our time delay.

#define addr 0x3BC     //IMPORTANT: Normaly 378 is the most common address, 
                       //if not then insert your address instead of 378

int main()
{
    int freq; //Variable for time delay.
    int L; //Variable for counts of Blinking LED.
    
    
    cout<<"\t\t XheavenlyX WELCOMES YOU!!! \n\n";         //How can I forget this ^_^
    
    cout<<"How many times to blink?? Enter 0 to exit: ";  //Ask user how many times to blink the LED
    cin>>L;                                               //And exit if zero is entered.  
    
    
    if (L==0)
    {
        cout<<endl<<"Exiting application..."<<endl;             //Code to exit if L = 0. 
        for (int i=0;i<=5;i++) {_sleep(500);}                   //A lame pause before exit!
        exit(0);
    }

    cout<<"Frequency (in mS): ";                          //Ask user to enter the frequency at which the LED will blink.
    cin>>freq;                                              //Store that value in freq.
    
//Bottom code is the Juice! This will blink your LED the number of times you put in L.
//The speed of blinks will depend on freq. As an example if you entered 500milliseconds. The LED
//will blink twice every second since 500ms is half of 1000ms (1000millisecondss = 1sec)

    for (int i=1;i<=L;i++)        //The loop. L times to blink.
    {
    _outp(addr,1);             //Output is high in the first 'Data bit' of port(*), i.e Pin number 2 where you have connected the LED.
    _sleep(freq);               //freq mS delay between the high and low of LED.
    _outp(addr,0);             //Output is low now
    _sleep(freq);               //Pause again between the high,
    }
    return 0;                   //main returns nothing to you. ^_^
}                               // For an indepth look at 


//(*)NOTE: There are some simple calculations to turn on/off the other PINs on the printer port.

//links
// http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/733szwah.aspx _outp, _inp etc.

I am so stupid regarding programming. I know making an LED blink is probably as basic as "hello world," but I sure don't know how to do it.

And for the 25 way D type connector, is one of these what you mean? Which would you recommend?

 

[ericgibbs]

hi,

That program fragment is written in 'C' , sorry I dont do 'C', for pC programming, mainly VB5..

Some other member may help you out..

 

[unseen wombat]

Okay, thanks for your help. I don't know VB at all, but I did take C (not ++) like 7 years ago in school. (Of which I've forgotten most).

So I solder the wires to pins 2 and 19 on that male 25 pin adapter from radio shack? Is that right? And it's just for convenience in plugging in, correct? It doesn't like, protect the parallel port or anything.

I changed a little of the C code to do, I think, what I want. If anyone knows C and can let me know if this will work, I'd appreciate any advice.

//This example code shows how to switch a LED on/off in Visual C++.
//We use two variables N and L explained below.


#include <iostream.h>  //The most important include to display data on screen.
#include <conio.h>     //Include for outp and inp functions for the printer port.
#include <windows.h>   //For _sleep functions for our time delay.

#define addr 0x3BC     //IMPORTANT: Normaly 378 is the most common address, 
                       //if not then insert your address instead of 378

int main()
{
    int freq;   //Variable for time delay.
    int L;      //Variable for counts of Blinking LED.
    int wait;   //variable for time to wait before starting blinking.
    int length; //Variable for time the LED should remain lit


    
    L=30;         //Blink 30 times 
    wait=1200000; //Wait 20 minutes before starting to blink
    freq=20000;   //Time to wait between blinks, (in ms)
    length=500;   //Time to leave the LED on
    
//Bottom code is the Juice! This will blink your LED the number of times you put in L.
//The speed of blinks will depend on freq. As an example if you entered 500 milliseconds. The LED
//will blink twice every second since 500ms is half of 1000ms (1000millisecondss = 1sec)

_sleep(wait);

    for (int i=1;i<=L;i++)        //The loop. L times to blink.
    {
    _outp(addr,1);             //Output is high in the first 'Data bit' of port(*), i.e Pin number 2 where you have connected the LED.
    _sleep(length);            //Length mS delay between the high and low of LED.
    _outp(addr,0);             //Output is low now
    _sleep(freq);              //Pause again between the high,
    }
    return 0;                  //main returns nothing to you. ^_^
}


//(*)NOTE: There are some simple calculations to turn on/off the other PINs on the printer port.

//links
// http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/733szwah.aspx _outp, _inp etc.

Does anyone know if there is a way to run this code while the computer is in sleep mode? That way I wouldn't have to leave my laptop open and have to wait for the screen to turn off.

 

[ericgibbs]

So I solder the wires to pins 2 and 19 on that male 25 pin adapter from radio shack? Is that right? And it's just for convenience in plugging in, correct? It doesn't like, protect the parallel port or anything.

Hi,
Get some red LED's, use a 220R or 270R resistor in series with the resistor.

Connect as per this diagram.

You can use insulated twin wire to extend from the 25W D' to the users eye, that is the LED could be mounted on the eye mount.

 

[moody07747]

LDing is awesome, I read this online page a month ago and its really worked well for me:

https://www.dreamviews.com/index.php

blinks lights are not needed

 

[unseen wombat]

Hey, I'm a member of the Dreamviews forums.

You're right that the lights are not required. There are many other techniques and dietary supplements and even prescription drugs that will enable you to lucid dream. It's not easy though. (For most people, some are naturals). I take Galantamine + Choline on the weekends when I'm able to sleep in. It's actually an OTC Alzheimers medication, but it makes attempting to WILD (wake-induced lucid dream) much easier. Vitamin B6 is helpful too. I also do autosuggestion which is sort of like self-hypnosis while I'm awake, and I wake up and go back to bed almost every day before the time I'm supposed to wake up so that I'm more aware for the final REM periods of the night.

The blinking lights are just another aid for when one technique or one supplement gets stale and doesn't work as well anymore. It's always good, I think, to take a break once something stops working. That's why I want to try to make the blinking lights.

 

[ericgibbs]

I also do autosuggestion which is sort of like self-hypnosis while I'm awake

hi,
Using this technique you can 'implant' a trigger word/thought/scene in your mind so when you are dreaming this trigger will make you are aware you a dreaming and then you can switch to lucid.

Worked for me.

 

[unseen wombat]

Yes, that's true. It works sometimes for me. I conjecture that it's all depends on your state of mind. One of the reasons to keep a dream journal is to begin to see common themes in your dreams, and then remind yourself, the next time you see it, you'll recognize you're dreaming.

However, I've missed so many dreamsigns, just because in dreams, I seem to be dumb as a rock. One time I was at a recurring location that shows up in many of my dreams, of which I told myself, "Next time I find myself here, I'll know I'm dreaming." I tried to push my finger through the palm of my opposite hand, a common reality check, but just like real life, it didn't work. So like a dummy, I thought to myself, "Wow, so this is a real place, and not just a place in my dreams!"

More often though, probably 95% of the time, I'll see a dreamsign and just go on, totally oblivious to it, not even questioning for a moment whether I'm actually in a dream. I hate that. It's entirely possible that I'll see blinking lights one night in a dream and not even connect them to what's happening in the real world. I'd just like to try though.