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#1 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 42
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REM Dreamer: Early Impressions
I recently bought the REM Dreamer, and I have found very little information on the internet about it so I figured I would help by contributing my experiences. The REM Dreamer is a cheaper, Polish alternative to the Nova Dreamer which you can order on the internet. It has two red LED lights and a motion sensor for REM sleep, as well as a "chime" (to accompany the lights) and an alarm (if you want to be woken up after REM). It costs around $160 US right now, but I would imagine the price would fluctuate depending on the polish/ american exchange rate. .
I've read that it often takes them a while to send it, and it certainly did. After 21 days of having purchased it and not receiving it I emailed them and got an email shortly saying sorry for the delay and that it was shipped that day. I believe they either make them per order and it took 20 days to make it or that they simply forgot to send it. Still, they were very cooperative and I would just recommend being patient and kind, and since it's always scary purchasing something from an unknown source, I think it's worth noting that they are not trying to scam you. The site says expect 3-8 business days for delivery, and since they sent it in the mail I did indeed get it 8 business days later. I've had it for about a week now. The directions are translated funny and a bit hard to decipher, something I guess you would call Polglish. It's very comfortable, but it does take some getting used to sleeping with something on your head. You can sleep on your side or on your back, and it stays pretty snug on your head without falling off. I would recommend turning the air conditioning just a few degrees lower than normal just so you don't get too hot. It applies maybe a little too much pressure on your forehead, but once you habituate to it you don't notice it anymore. I'm actually considering removing the padding/ cushion on the mask and replacing it with some memory foam. It wouldn't take much, just like the sample you get from stores trying to sell you memory foam beds and stuff. It would be easy, so I'll keep you posted on how this works. Once I got it I over estimated how deep a sleeper I am, and set it immediately for the "deep sleeper" preset. This involves the brightest light settings for 10 seconds and a few seconds of chimes. I put the mask on and pressed the test button to see what it was like, and it was waaaaaaay too bright! I tinkered with the brightness settings, 1-6, and found that 1 is barely bright enough to see through my eyelids and 6 burns a hole through my head. 2 is a huge leap from 1, and is barely dimmer than 6. My eyes were literally numb for hours after trying each of the settings, so I really wouldn't recommend tinkering with it for too lengthy time without a break or two. At first, I could actually feel the heat of the little LED lights on 6 and it hurt to look at them even with my eyes open. However, my girlfriend turned on the highest settings and put on the mask and didn't think it was painful at all, and while I use the 2 setting, she can barely see it through her eyelids. We concluded that I must have thin eyelids, and I've always been sensitive to light so this may or may not be a problem for others. I would very much suggest trying one of the lighter sleeper presets first, and turning the chiming off completely. My first night sleeping with it I had 10 seconds of soft chiming and bright blinking, which woke me up every time. Since then I turned the intensity down, turned off the chiming, and set it for just 5 seconds. It hasn't woken me up since. It detects REM pretty well. I have a few concerns, but I'm not very knowledgable of the technology so I'm not sure how valid they are. For one, there's only one motion sensor. I kinda feel like there should be one for each eye and not just the right eye. It seems to detect up-and-down movement alot better than side-to-side. To optimize detection, you can adjust the mask's "threshold," but the directions do a very poor job of explaining what this is and what the optimal option would be. Last night I had a concern in that I woke up with it on my head, and tested it out by moving my eyes to see if anything would happen, and nothing happened. So I set it to test mode where it clicks when it detects movement to test it out. Then I opened my eyes and nothing, and finally I took it off and waved it at light and nothing. I turned it off and back on again and tested it out and it was spot-on with detection. Although I have no real way of knowing cuz I'm asleep, I kinda feel like this happens alot. This could mean the batteries are low, or maybe in my sleepy drunkeness I had turned it off, or maybe it was a false awakening even! In fact, even in the directions it says that the mask can be used as a RC in that most LD are accompanied by a false awakening and that the mask rarely works in dreams, so that if you press the button and it doesn't work then you're dreaming. So take it for what you will, I dunno. So the big question, does it work? Unfortunately, I have not had any experience even close to a LD with it yet. The irony is that in the month that I was waiting for it in the mail, I had gotten really good at LD without it. I actually feel that wearing the mask makes my mind dependent on the mask, and thus too lazy to become lucid on it's own. I haven't noticed any flashing in my dreams, and in fact I've had pretty poor dream recall since I've used it. I really want to say it was a miracle device, and it may still be because it requires a lot of tinkering to get the settings just right for you. You want it not so intense that it wakes you up, but not so much that it doesn't do anything. If you wear it at night it's easier to sleep with because you're in such a deep sleep, but you want to wear it during the morning or naps for your most lucid experiences and dream recall. My experiences have two faults that make me a little unreliable, and I'm going to fix them for the future so I can report if anything has changed (but I did want to go ahead to post my early impressions while they're fresh in my mind and also cuz I was excited to share my experiences). #1. I have kept the mask on for a full night maybe once since I've gotten it. The other nights I have either worn it at night, gotten up to use the bathroom, and too asleep to put it back on and adjust the settings once more; or I have worn it at night, bathroom thing, forgot to put it back on, and then put it back on about an hour before officially waking up for the day. By doing this I'm skipping the most important REM cycles for LD. #2. Partly related to problem 1, I haven't been keeping log of how many generated series of eye movement the mask has been detecting. The first night I wore it, in which I woke up and took it off, it had detected 9 generated series. The directions say in 6 hours of sleep it should detect 20-25. Until I actually start checking the log, which the directions suggest you do every day, I'm not going to be able to customize the settings so that it detects REM at its best and so that it will induce LD at my level. So I'm going to start sleeping with it in the mornings or during naps, and keep track of the log, and post my experiences. Once I've gotten these two things down I'll be able to customize it more so it'll work better. It does require a lot of tinkering, and you have to get it just right for you so that it'll work. I'll post what changes, and be happy to answer any questions anyone wants to shoot my way. Happy dreaming 8) |
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#2 |
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proximity infatuation
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: trapped near the inner circle of fault
Gender:
Posts: 994
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Thanks for the update. I feel it really helps people in deciding whether or not to purchase new products for lucid dreaming. As I stated I posted my terrible results with Dream Maker. IMO, was poorly designed and didnt work at all for me.
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#3 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 42
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I found out a very important thing last night. It's very sensitive to outside light. That is why it wasn't working that one morning I believe. If there's a light on in the distance or a TV on, it will have some problems picking up on REM. It's slightly better if you push the mask further down your face, but it's a bit uncomfortable to do it and its still not as good as just wearing it in a full dark room. I will have to experiment with this, and go to bed early so my morning REM occurs when the light from the sun isn't shining in as much
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#4 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago
Gender:
Posts: 1,574
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Very helpfull informative post. I've never been able to find much detail about the mysterious Remdreamer. I dont know why their site is so poorly done. Probably scares away a lot of potential customers. So breaking it down, would you recommend it? Any LD's yet?
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#5 |
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 157
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Thanks for the review-- it really helps out this community.
I usually have no trouble awakening or remembering my dreams, so I don't think I'll buy one. |
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#6 |
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 20
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Does it tell you on the mask how many times it picked up on REM?
Could you also post the website that you bought it from so I can check it out? Thanks |
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#7 |
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proximity infatuation
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: trapped near the inner circle of fault
Gender:
Posts: 994
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#8 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 42
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yes it does tell you how many times it picks up REM during the night. Then you adjust the threshold to better pick up on your eye movements throughout the night, I guess to prevent false alarms or to allow you to move your eyes more or less before the signal. I really don't understand exactly, but the directions say if it's too low to lower the threshold and if its too many then higthen the threshold. It should pick up 20-25 in 6 hours of sleep. Once you get it and decipher the directions yourself it'll make more sense.
It's working, I can tell that. It picks up REM wonderfully, and the more I experiment with it I realize this more and more. Even if the flashing does nothing but wake me up, I realize that I was just dreaming when it went off. I figured out what was wrong that one night, and it wasn't outside light or the batteries. I didn't realize that if I turn it on, and then want to test if it's picking up on REM, you have to either reset it or press the button again while in that mode (again, that makes more sense if you see it). I haven't quite gotten it configured yet to not wake me up yet, and what happens is when I'm dreaming it turns on and I feel a slight lucid sensation, but then the device continues to flash (and I think the batteries are low so it set back to default, and thus beeped at me as well) and then I wake up. Would I recommed a purchase of it? Not just yet, but I'm a lot more optimistic about it than I was earlier. I honestly haven't been using it as consistant as I should because of outside factors (for instance, my gf has to get up for class in the morning and I'm going to bed late, so I don't see the point in putting it on if the alarm is going to go off in 4 hours anyway). What I have noticed is that it's finally manifesting into my dreams. I'll have to experiment more, but I wanted to post even the slightest experience with it so far. |
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#9 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 42
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I haven't been able to use it as much as I like because I've started a new job, and I've found LD being very hard if I don't have a full 8 hours of sleep to attend to it. But luckily I have had some awesome experiences. If nothing else, it's shown me that I need to take my day time RC's a lot more seriously. I've seen lots of red flashing in my dreams, most often it's actually everything around me flashing red. I was afraid I would only see a small blinking light or something, but in fact everything around me flashes red. It's really cool, but too often in my dreams I think it's normal and just figure "Oh, well I aughta just do a RC so that I'll pick up on the signals when I'm dreaming" but I don't realize, I AM DREAMING! So I need to work on that, and I have had a few LD experiences with it on, but they weren't triggered by flashing. That doesn't mean that the mask didn't trigger it though, it might have woken my mind up just enough to realize it. anyway, so far so good
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#11 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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I just recieved the REM Dreamer today after ordering it on the 7th. I am going to try it out tonight. Ill keep anyone who is still interested in the product updated on my progress.
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#12 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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Tried the mask the first night and no LDs but it is very customizable so I am confident that I'll find the right settings soon. I had a little trouble going to sleep but all in all the mask is not that hard to sleep with. I am used to sleeping on my stomach so it wil take some getting used to. The mask blocks most light but there is space on the bottom for light to come in. The exposed circuit board is a little weird though. I am excited for this device because I think it can work very well.
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#13 | |
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proximity infatuation
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: trapped near the inner circle of fault
Gender:
Posts: 994
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Quote:
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#14 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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I have a little trouble first falling asleep at night and I have to adjust the mask a couple times, but it is readily getting easier. Two nights ago night I woke up and the mask was off so I put it back on. In the morning it showed that it had given me 34 cues. I didnt remember any cues in my dreams so that seemed pretty high. I think that it gave off a lot of cues when the mask was off. I found that Ican sleep on my side back and even stomach if I just put my head on the pillow. No lucids, but I did have some cool dreams. The first couple times I tried the mask it kept on waking me up with the cues so I turned down the intensity. However, last night i thought it had woken me up but decided to try the reality check button and it turns out I was asleep! I was very excited and imediately labeled it a lucid dream, but I woke up instead of being able to explore. I wasnt able to calm myself, imagine my surroundings and take off the dream mask. Last night I got 25 cues and couldnt really remember any in my dreams until I started writing this. Now I remember one of those huge destruction machines from War of the Worlds coming through the city. Its laser mustve been the signals. I think the mask helps me sleep overall because it blocks light. Even though I have not had a lucid yet, I know that if I am consistent with my reality checks throughout the day and tweak the settings some more I will get results. If anyone else on this board has tips for this device it would be much appreciated, but it doesnt seem like many made the leap of faith to spend $170. I will update soon.
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#15 | |
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proximity infatuation
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: trapped near the inner circle of fault
Gender:
Posts: 994
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Quote:
More Research is needed of course. |
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#16 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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The past couple nights I have woken up in the middle of the night and taken off the mask because I just want to sleep. Last night I had one cue which was two or three jedi coming out of nowhere fighting with their lightsabers. It was a pretty cool way for my brain to incorporate the flashing.
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#17 | |
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proximity infatuation
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: trapped near the inner circle of fault
Gender:
Posts: 994
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Quote:
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#18 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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#19 |
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proximity infatuation
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: trapped near the inner circle of fault
Gender:
Posts: 994
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Congrats man, that's great news!
I'm glad the REM-Dreamer turned out to work for you! |
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#20 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Wherever you want me baby!
Posts: 30
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Instead of shelling out $160 for this thing, or similar products, you can at home (with some rudimentary electrical engineering skills) just make your own. I'm sure it wouldn't be nearly as comfortable or sleek.
It's great if you don't mind LED's in your eye sockets or pieces of poorly soldered components mangling your face.
__________________
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." -Albert Einstein |
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#22 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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So after a long absence I've started to use the mask again. I still have the problem of the lights waking me up, but I can adjust the settings hopefully. If im comitted Ill post my progress here.
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#23 |
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20
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Ive been using the mask on and off for the past week or so. Some nights I just want to sleep without worrying about lucid dreaming or even recalling dreams. I remember one night where I thought I had been woken up by the mask, but in the morning I realized that the flashing lights were white. I read about someone earlier experiencing the same thing and it makes sense that I was dreaming. There have been many times where I thought i was awoken by the mask but I hardly ever did reality checks because I didnt want to wake up very much. it takes patience and dedication just like anything else in lucid dreaming but it has been worth it. Ive had at least two lucid dreams with the mask in probably 3 total weeks of scattered use....very scattered. I do think it helps with recall too, but maybe thats because the nights i use the mask I am much more serious about dreaming.
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#24 | |
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Polyphasic Mess
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NJ/NYC area
Gender:
Posts: 1,954
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Hi, I also bought the Remdreamer yet have discontinued its use due to a lack of results. I have had 1 LD induced by the flashing lights but it seemed like a WILD by accident. Anyway, Its sitting in my desk, and I'm trying to use a more powerful tool, (my brain). But I hope you have some more luck and progress.
Good Luck
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#25 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Kameoka, Japan.
Posts: 135
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And the award for 'oldest post brought back from the dead' goes to... Bro!
Seriously, I'de never buy this stuff. Too much money, too much hassle getting it to my country. And besides, my brain is more than enough.
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