The elusiveness of dreaming has long puzzled humans for thousands of years. It’s known to be essential, but why has yet to be figured out. What’s more, the phenomenon known as lucid dreaming, where people report being active in the dreams, has seen more and more mainstream coverage.
Lucid dreaming is powerful because it can offer people something nothing else can: anything — think VR to the nth degree. And not just for fun, but with very real psychological benefits as well. That’s why the Aladdin lucid dreaming band is interesting. It uses EEG technology to apply a gentle electrical current to the prefrontal cortex (the part of the mind responsible for reasoning that’s usually dormant during sleep) to allow users to gain agency in the dream. The band’s embedded microprocessor controls the stimulation and also connects with the companion mobile app. With it, users can track the nuances of their sleep, set smart alarms and more effectively journal their dreams by typing or creating voice memos. Each Aladdin is going for $299 and is expected to ship October 2017. The Kickstarter is looking for $250,000 by December 1st, 2016.
Lucid dreaming is an incredibly interesting segment that crowdfunding platforms have routinely embraced, with both good and bad results. For the most part, though, these lucid dreaming products are pretty similar — and the Aladdin doesn’t do anything the DreamNet and Guidy don’t already do in a slightly different way. That doesn’t mean the Aladdin isn’t a worthy purchase for someone interested in lucid dreaming, however. It just means this isn’t the product to break into the marketplace like it wants to.