Oculus Rift & Vivid Dreams

For as long as I can remember I have had very vivid dreams. I joke that I don't need a TV because of them.

It became obvious to me at some point that people will start to augment their reality after they have experienced a virtual space. For me that virtual space has always been dreams, so I have always felt sorry for people who say they do not remember their dreams.

I think that VR will let a lot more people become dreamers in the positive sense and that it will be an experience which is a lot more powerful than any occult initiation. There is a guy called Robert Bruce, written a few books on OOBEs, who talks about projecting 'tactile imagination' as the gateway to our own inherit virtual space, and he describes a few exercises in a rather extensive document that he calls New Energy Ways to train your tactile imagination when starting from zero. - Long story short, since VR objects are hollow to the touch, our minds will need to fill in the blanks. This is very powerful training for tactile imagination.

So I expected this too. Welcome to my world! :D

Ok, so I'm back.

This is crazy.

I thought this wouldn't affect me at all. I've never tried a decent HMD, let alone the Rift. But since I've been REALLY into VR, and have been spending entire days visualising VR concepts and watching Rift videos, I've actually begun to have much more vivid dreams.

It's quite surreal. I was in the shop earlier (in real life) and different products I saw actually triggered a deja vu like reaction which within around a second brought back memories of a dream I'd had the previous night.

The second thing that struck me was the fact I can still remember details even now, a good 24 hours later. Maybe this is due to the dream being very emotionally memorable, but I'm certain that something has changed drastically in the way I recall different 'realities' if you want to put it that way.

I'm hardly complaining. If the Rift provides me with great experiences when I'm awake and even when I'm asleep, then it's safe to say it's worth the $300.

MIND
BLOWN

We have a technology here giving people dreams.

Jeez, my own eyes must be shining and glossed over in excitement and thought. My own Rift has yet to arrive but I do recall dreams being influenced by games.

I wonder what will happen? Dreams truly can have an affect on the individual, and if we're able to cause dreams... I suppose the state of mind caused by the rift must be so different and sensational (literally) that the mind records *all of it* as important and just does it's best to recreate it... Then you have control over your actions in the video game, and varying control over the world as well, and you know it's fake and up to you to be there... So instead of just recreating a random experience it recreates the lucidity and control you *actually had to begin with*.

Amazingly powerful.

What will happen now? I doubt anybody's gonna wake up with super powers, but if you tell me they'll see the world as M-String and balls of light... I'm inclined to believe a new depth of perception of detail may arise out of all the necessities required of you in a game. It's essentially like sports for your brain, isn't it?

I honestly imagine this to be very bad very soon too. No reason to believe we wont see nightmares. Hell, learned hopelessness and depression. Imagine if games could cause it? A lot of what we're talking now is suspension of disbelief being... well... more like pure unadulterated belief. Childlike unawareness of fake and real returning just because of the novelty of it all, maybe? Well my point is, what if this ascends to something a little more sinister, if we're dreaming, just how much are we taking from the game? What are we learning about the qualities and facts of reality? Where does our conscious understanding of fake end and our subconscious acceptance of something as real begin? And if we start to accept things as real, does that mean that by playing Amnesia, behind your back, you may take on very *real* symptoms of someone stuck in a haunted mansion? Extraordinarily high levels of stress, depression (about the fact that there's monsters and nothing you can do about it), freaking victimization?

I'm not saying this with any fear or trepidation, I just find this all flamingly interesting.

One very real application VR could have is to train people to be able to become Lucid in their dreams.
The result of that will be A. you can remember more dreams, with better clarity B. you can take control of your dreams, and do anything you wish. C. you can use it to explore your own consciousness, and perhaps even the nature of reality

If you're not familiar with lucid dreaming, I highly recommend you at least get a cursory understanding of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-World-Dreaming-Stephen-LaBerge/dp/034537410X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1366664695&sr=8-2&keywords=lucid+dream

Lucid dreaming is awesome. It's probably the closest thing we have to true VR today. Really amazing if you can get the hang of it. Certainly worth reading the LaBerge book and giving it a shot. It's a life-changing experience. What's great is that dreams become way more vivid once you become lucid, it really has to be seen to be believed.

"ExLurker" wrote:
We have a technology here giving people dreams. Jeez, my own eyes must be shining and glossed over in excitement and thought.

Exactly-- a few nights ago, I was going to reply to this thread because I was drifting off to sleep and had flashbacks of a world in a Rift prototype I'm building. This led me to question how VR could also be making an imprint on our memory (and spatial memory) which also dovetails into how it's expanding our ability to dream.

I essentially realized a lot of this reminds me of Total Recall:
http://www.astrogun.com/vr-we-can-remember-it-for-you-wholesale/

And yeah, I recommend getting into lucid dreaming training for sure. The Rift probably makes your brain focus more on visual/spatial thinking, which could explain the increase in vivid/lucid dreaming.

"xanderdavis" wrote:

"ExLurker" wrote:
We have a technology here giving people dreams. Jeez, my own eyes must be shining and glossed over in excitement and thought.

Exactly-- a few nights ago, I was going to reply to this thread because I was drifting off to sleep and had flashbacks of a world in a Rift prototype I'm building. This led me to question how VR could also be making an imprint on our memory (and spatial memory) which also dovetails into how it's expanding our ability to dream.

I essentially realized a lot of this reminds me of Total Recall:
http://www.astrogun.com/vr-we-can-remember-it-for-you-wholesale/

And yeah, I recommend getting into lucid dreaming training for sure. The Rift probably makes your brain focus more on visual/spatial thinking, which could explain the increase in vivid/lucid dreaming.

I think it's also plausible that an increase in the ability to discern between reality and un-reality is contributing to increased lucid dreams.

The ability to become lucid rely in part on one's awareness of what is real and what is not.

Spending a lot of time in an environment that is fairly realistic probably trains the mind to recognize this fact, and this may translate to a similar increase in awareness while dreaming.

We may be able to further capitalize on this feature by making an app that periodically flash or beep while in VR to prompt the user to do a dream check.

i'm developing a harcore horror game so... I hope not to dream about it or i'll be fucked :lol:

I do recall when i played Doom 2 for the first time - it was my first 3d game and I really felt immersed. I had a nightmare soon after that was pretty vivid but i dont think it was down to lucid dreaming. The game had captured my imagination so much and i was playing it constantly and into the wee hours of the morning. Only natural I was dreaming about it.

However as resolution on the headset gets better and graphics become more powerful - i do think we will have a very blurred line between reality and VR - espcially where the expereince is exceptional - and well executed.

Finding that sweet spot is the holy grail of VR - and when you think about it - why shouldnt the expereince in the VR world be any less valid than something you experience in the real world.

I think the power to influence peoples perceptions via subliminal messaging espcially will become a massive deal. Subliminal messaging is illegal in some countries when it comes to advertising because of its power - but i think we are into new territory here.

While i dont quite agree with the new age "energy balls" premise - i do think the new experiences we gain in VR will be life changing and open our minds up.

What an awesome thread! I knew I had to stay up and visit the forums before I went to bed for a reason!

It is refreshing to find so many 'out of the box' thinkers. I too am very familiar with Carlos Castaneda and the concepts of the assemblage point, Dreaming, and Shamanism in general. As a teenager I experienced many amazing things as a result of free thought and a healthy dose of experimentation with various techniques, both my own and those passed to me by others; and I continue to have such experiences to this very day and onwards.
Since I first began my journey all those years ago, I have continued on this 'quest' in my search for knowledge, and I currently find myself at what appears to be the crux of a very long journey, and it would seem that the Oculus Rift has become a part of it all.
Now how wild is that? I knew this thing was great the moment I first heard about it. I have seen it turn many clear-minded and mature Men & Women on their heads with giddyness and excitement as they discover that the key to their dreams is being manufactured and mass produced, bringing us moments away from the experience of a Lifetime; and it is all about to go down in their very own living rooms. No need for a trip to Mexico or a message from Mescalito; It may sound silly to some, but if we do things right I believe the Oculus Rift will truly live up to it's name.
These 'worlds' we have been building have always been a step away from us, and although we have always lent them some of our energy by our beliefs, they have always been largely separated from ourselves and remained mere tools for us to look at and play with.
The gap is being closed, and the Rift is being opened.
This is going to go far. Very far.
Close the Gap, and open the Rift. Close the Gap, and open the Rift.
:D
(*fun!*)