Scientists have brought science fiction one step closer to reality by achieving the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreaming.
In an experiment that sounds like a scene out of the movie ‘Inception,’ REMspace – a California-based startup that designs technology to enhance sleep and lucid dreaming – reportedly exchanged a message between two people who were asleep.
The company used ‘specially designed equipment’ which included a ‘server,’ an ‘apparatus,’ ‘Wifi’ and ‘sensors,’ but did not specify the exact technology they used.
The study participants were asleep in separate homes when REMspace researchers beamed a word created through a unique language between them.
A neurotech company claims to have achieved the first two-way communication between individuals during lucid dreaming
REMspace CEO and founder Michael Raduga said: ‘Yesterday, communicating in dreams seemed like science fiction.
‘Tomorrow, it will be so common we won’t be able to imagine our lives without this technology.
‘This opens the door to countless commercial applications, reshaping how we think about communication and interaction in the dream world.’
The technology has yet to be reviewed or replicated by scientists. But if validated, it would be a major 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 claimed.
Lucid dreaming is when a person is aware they are dreaming while still in the dream state.
This allows them to perform 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 typically occurs.
REMspace has not revealed exactly what equipment was used in their experiment, but said the experiment involved an ‘apparatus’ 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 remotely tracked by the apparatus, which fed data into the server.
Two study participants slept in their homes while their brain waves were remotely tracked by the apparatus, which fed data into the server
Once the server detected that one participant had entered a lucid dream, it generated a random word and transmitted it to him via earbuds
Eight minutes later, the second participant entered a lucid dream. The server transmitted the stored message from the first participant to her, which she repeated upon awakening
Once the server detected that one participant had entered a lucid dream, it generated a random word from the special language and transmitted it to him via earbuds.
The participant then repeated this word in his dream, and that response was captured and stored in the server.
Eight minutes later, the second participant entered a lucid dream. The server transmitted the stored message from the first participant to her, which she repeated upon awakening.
REMspace was able to repeat this experiment with another pair of participants. But the study will need to undergo rigorous review before the company can definitively say that they achieved dream communication.
Raduga, who is confident about their results, is widely known for his ambitious – and sometimes bizarre – experiments.
Raduga, 40, implanted an electrode into his brain to ‘control his dreams’
The electrode implant is made of platinum and silicon. Raduga claimed that electrical triggers sent to this electrode can influence the course of lucid dreams
In 2023, he put his life on the line when he attempted to implant a microchip in his own brain to control his dreams.
The 40-year-old, who has no neurosurgery qualifications, compared his extremely dangerous experiment to the film of Inception – claiming his ‘electrode’ one day has the potential to change the course of lucid dreams.
Gruesome footage of the procedure shows him holding his skin back with paper clips while bulldozing the back of his skull using a drill he found at a hardware store.
He inserted the chip into his brain after watching hours of neurosurgery YouTube videos and practicing on five sheep – he told no one of his plans.
The chip was eventually removed in hospital after five weeks.
The highly dangerous study has not appeared in any peer-reviewed journals and is not backed by any universities, but Raduga claimed he needed to do it for himself.
‘I am glad I survived but I was ready to die,’ he told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview last year.
Now, he has set his sights on another ambitious goal: enabling real-time communication in lucid dreams.
‘We believe that REM sleep and related phenomena, like lucid dreams, will become the next big industry after AI,’ Raduga said.
