Device that helps people work while sleeping

America A new startup called Prophetic is developing a device that helps control and use dreams in a way that benefits work.

Design of the Halo device. Photo: Prophetic — Design of the Halo device. Photo: *Prophetic*

The American company Prophetic, founded in March last year, has created a head-mounted device called "Halo:" that can bring about a state of lucid dreaming. That is when people are aware that they are dreaming and can control the content of their dreams. According to Prophetic, Halo can turn dreams into virtual workplaces for people to do whatever they want. Whether they are CEOs, athletes or web designers, they can use their dreams to practice, create or explore new abilities, Intereresting Engineering reported on December 1. Prophetic founder and CEO Eric Wollberg said the only limitation is imagination.

Halo isn’t the first device to induce lucid dreaming. Many other products promise to help you achieve that clarity. However, Prophetic claims that its device works differently and effectively because it uses a focused ultrasound beam to stimulate a specific area of the brain associated with lucid dreaming. The ultrasound beam activates the parts of the brain responsible for decision-making and consciousness, thereby creating lucidity.

Prophetic is working with Afshin Mehin, founder of Card79 and designer of the Neuralink N1 device for Elon Musk’s brain implant company, to develop Halo. They say the potential of lucid dreaming extends beyond specific problem solving to finding creative new ways to approach a topic that you wouldn’t have thought of while awake. For example, a mathematician might not find the correct answer to a math problem in a dream, but might discover a new approach afterward.

Not everyone is convinced, however, by what Prophetic has to say. Antonio Zadra, a professor of psychology at the University of Montreal and an expert on sleep and dreaming, says lucid dreaming is not easy. Many people who experience lucid dreams often forget they are dreaming or wake up too early. Zadra emphasizes that controlling dreams is even more difficult, requiring more practice and skill. He suggests people use other techniques, such as meditation, to increase their ability to control their dreams.

Wollberg responds to skepticism by citing a series of studies that link prefrontal cortex activation to the ability to control dreams. The more stimulation, he says, the better a user can control their goals.

Prophetic’s product is based on research conducted by the Donders Institute, a brain research center in the Netherlands. From the institute’s research, Prophetic determined which specific brain regions to target and what frequency of ultrasound waves to use to induce lucid sleep. The company hopes to have that data available by spring 2024 and ship the device by spring 2025. Wollberg wouldn’t say how many people have signed up for pre-orders, but said that in the first few weeks after the company opened its pre-order system, sales were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

An Khang (According to Interesting Engineering )

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