Crowdfunding project of the week: iBand+ induces lucid dreaming and helps you sleep better

It’s Sunday and you probably need to catch up on sleep after your weekend adventures (I know I do). But before you go into dreamland you should take a look at today’s ‘Crowdfunding project of the week’. In this article series we highlight some of the coolest campaigns from websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Let’s jump right into it!

Other featured projects:

• LIVALL smart cycling helmet
• Unleashed will turn your phone into a DSLR remote
• Dot is a smart notification light
• Shoka Bell for bicyclists

Today we are taking a look at the iBand+, a sleep enhancing device. This head-mounted gadget keeps track of your sleeping cycles, monitoring body movement, heart rate and temperature. The app can then control music based on your habits, helping you ease into your sleep. In addition, it will provide recommendations for better sleeping, based on previous sleeping sessions. Don’t want to wake up startled and tired? This headband can also tell when the best time to wake you up is.

But those are only the technical and health-related advantages of the iBand+. This product also helps induce lucid dreaming.

Lucid what?

Lucid dreaming may be an experience you are not familiar with. In essence, it is a state of consciousness in your dreams. This means that, during a dream, you can actually recognize you are dreaming. It is then possible to take control of what you do in a dream, and often with no limitations. You could do things like fly over the Grand Canyon, visit the moon or maybe even go hang out with your friends and loved ones.

How does the iBand+ help?

The tricky part here is recognizing you are dreaming. Most people don’t really wonder whether they are dreaming or not, so you have to depend on certain cues that give it away. Something that is unnatural and makes you go: “huh?!”. My personal trigger is looking at my hands (which always look deformed in dreams).

In the case of the iBand+, the sensors will recognize when you are having REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is the sleep state in which we are said to be dreaming. When REM is recognized, the unit will flash lights and play audio, which could then leak into your dreams. The plan is for you to remember these cues come from the headset when you see them in your dreams, only to make you realize you are asleep.

Wrapping up

Interested? We know lucid dreaming can be intimidating, but it’s something you should at least try. And hey, if it’s not your thing you can always simply ignore that feature and take advantage of the many other things the iBand+ has to offer.

Those interested can learn more about the project and sign up at the Kickstarter page. Early bird specials start at only €129. But tell us, have you ever experienced lucid dreaming? How was your experience?