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April 19th, 2012Top StoryYou're the Guinea Pig: Experimenting with Your Sleep and DreamsBy Thorin Klosowski
I tested two types of apps when researching this post: sleep tracking and dream induction. Sleep tracking is supposed to help you see how much sleep you're getting, how good it is, and then wake you up at the optimal time. Dream induction, as the name implies, is all about helping you create and remember your dreams. Both types are based on a pretty basic understanding of our sleep cycles, so before we get into the results of my tests, let's take a quick look at the basics of the science they're based on. The Science Behind Sleep Tracking and Dream InductionTo get a good understanding of what these apps are trying to accomplish, it's good to understand the basics of what happens when you sleep, when you're most likely to dream, and when the best time to wake up is. The Different Stages of Sleep
During REM sleep you typically don't move, which is the key detail that a lot of the apps below use to judge where you are in your sleep schedule. It's thought that most dreams occur in the REM period, but it's still not clear why. The end of an REM cycle is usually the best time to wake up because it's one of the lightest stages of sleep you go through. This is why most of the sleep tracking apps attempt to wake you up near the end of a REM cycle and why most dream apps start to induce dreams at the beginning of your REM cycle. Image by RazerM. Controlling Dreams Through External Stimulus
Alternately, you can influence your dreams without apps and a bit of mental preparation. Dr. Barrett adds:
Barrett also suggests that if you have trouble remembering dreams it's best to wait a few minutes after you wake up to sit and think about how you feel to try and pull the narrative thread together to help you remember the dream. Now that we know the basics of sleep cycles and that it's possible to influence dreams let's take a look at the apps that are supposed to help you do both. Apps that Track and Help You Improve Sleeping and Waking UpWe've talked before about how to achieve better sleep with the help of technology that involves tracking your sleep patterns and comparing it with your daily activity as well as ways you can reboot your sleep cycles to get better sleep. I don't have a lot of trouble sleeping or waking up, but I was curious to see if I was waking up at the right time every day and if I was doing anything weird in my sleep. To find out I picked two iPhone apps, Sleep Cycle to track my sleep and Sleep Talk to see if I talk in my sleep (and if it's indicitive of certain sleep state). Tracking Your Sleep Patterns with Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is pretty simple: You start up the app, set it face-down on your bed, and then fall asleep. The app uses the accelerometer to see when you're moving around and then decides what cycle of sleep you're in based on your movement. I averaged about seven hours of sleep a night with only about two of those hours dedicated to deep sleep. This seems pretty normal. Sleep Cycle also features a timed smart alarm that's supposed to wake you up when your body is best suited for it. In my case this worked surprisingly well and when I woke up to the smart alarm I typically felt good and refreshed even though it was about 20 minutes earlier than my alarm was usually set for. Since Sleep Cycle only uses your phone's accelerometer, it's not perfect and the one caveat is that you have to sleep alone (this is true for all the apps featured here). If you're looking for something with a bit more accuracy you may want to look into Wakemate, which features an app and a wristband to track your movement accurately. However, for my basic purposes Sleep Cycle works well. Do You Talk in Your Sleep? Sleep Talk Has the AnswerSleep Talk is an iOS and Android app that does one simple thing: it listens to you sleep and records when you talk. I ran it throughout the course of these tests to see when or if I talk in my sleep and if dreams had a role in when I did. The results aren't that spectacular in my case. I only spoke once in the course of a week and according to Sleep Cycle I was in REM sleep at the time. As best as I can tell, I muttered, "Checkmate." I have no idea what the context of this was because I don't remember having a dream that evening, but it's a surprisingly action-movie sounding thing to mutter out in my sleep. No other recordings were made during my tests. Apps that Induce Dreams and Influence Your SleepWith my sleep control set and my average sleep hours and times logged, it's time to start experimenting with dream apps. Just so we're on the same page I should mention that I remember my dreams very rarely. If I had to put a number on it I'd say I remember them as little as five percent of the time. So as a test subject to see if these apps can not only induce dreams, but help you remember them, I'm a decent choice. I chose three different apps that are supposed to create or help you remember dreams in different ways. Influencing Dreams with Dream:ON
The first night I tried Dream:ON I tried the "Into the City" soundscape because I figured if I was going to let an app induce dreams it should be of familiar sounds. I didn't have any success with it. If it did cause a dream, I don't remember it. That might be because whatever city sounds the app played were too reminiscent of the sounds that are outside my window every night, so I decided to try it again. This time I set the soundscape to "Peaceful Garden," which, according to the app description, was supposed to sound like "taking a stroll through a garden of tranquility." This time around I actually woke up a little when the music started, but fell back asleep to a dream where I was a tiny fish being chased by a giant fish. After the chase I hid out in a tiny claustrophobic room and was stuck there until I woke up in a panicked sweat. It was not the type of dream I'd really like to induce. Undiscouraged I decided to give it one more chance. This time I went all out and purchased one of the in-app purchases, "Wild West," because I've always wished I was a cowboy. The description describes this one as "a classic Western adventure, as you become embroiled in the heart of a shootout to save the save the day." I set my phone on the edge of my bed and went to sleep. Then I dreamt of being a cowboy in the west, but for some reason a Fresh Prince of Bel Air-era Will Smith was with me and we were having a shootout with Tommy Lee Jones. We won the shootout and then I woke up about 25 minutes after the alarm had gone off. Since I was dead asleep when Dream:ON started playing this time around, I can't say for certain what it was doing to initiate this western fantasy, but I can say it worked. I vaguely remember hearing a story being told about cowboys, but I'm not certain how much of that was the app and how much was in the dream. The two days after I had dreams induced were pretty awful and it was hard to concentrate on anything. That may just be the fact that on both nights I only clocked in six and half hours of sleep as opposed to my average of seven. Still, if you're interested in seeing if specific sounds and (possibly) stories can influence your dreams, Dream:ON is worth checking out at least once. It's a free download and while one of my experiences was a bit terrifying, the wild west dream made it worth dealing with the other issues. Most importantly it helped me remember the dreams I had even if it didn't always influence them in the right direction. Using Brainwave Entrainment with Dream Inducer
Dream Inducer has a large playlist that changes its music and tones as you enter different cycles of your sleep. It is supposed to synchronize tones with a target mental state and then induce one of the sleep states. It uses a practice called brainwave entrainment. To date, studies on the psychological impact of brainwave entrainment are inconclusive and studies on their effects on dreams are even harder to track down. I used Dream Inducer on two separate nights to see if it had an effect on my sleep. Both nights I slept well, but that's not out of the ordinary for me. Neither night produced memorable dreams, but if I had to describe my "feeling" in the morning, I'd say I was a bit more awake, in a good mood, and ready to tackle a new day. The big benefit was that Dream Inducer didn't seem to trigger any negative effects, so it's probably worth checking out if you're looking for a lightweight way to possibly influence your dreams and sleep cycle. Getting Startled Awake Mid-Dream with Dream Alarm
I spent one night with Dream Alarm and that was enough. After setting up the app on my bed I fell asleep quickly. Around 3 a.m., Dream Alarm woke me up in the middle of a dream where I was giving a speech to a group of college kids about the benefits of coffee. Not exactly the most exciting dream by any stretch, but the fact I actually remembered it was interesting enough to me. The problem with Dream Alarm is that it woke me up at 3 a.m. and I couldn't get back to sleep afterwards. The fact I couldn't get back to sleep isn't a fault of the app, but it's a jarring enough experience that I wouldn't recommend repeating it unless remembering your dreams is somehow part of your job. The final tally on dream apps is about as definitive as the rest of dream research: 3 dreams in 6 days, with only one of those dreams clearly influenced by the app. Compared to my regular seven hours of sleep per night the dream apps did have a small effect on the number of hours I slept and subsequently had a slight effect on my mood throughout the day. More important is the fact the apps did seem to have an impact on the memory of dreams, even if they didn't always have a noticeable influence on them. That might be the direct reason why my mood was altered as well since I'm not used to remembering the weird things my brain comes up with throughout the evening. Dream science is not an exact science by any means and I'm not about to even try and analyze any of the above dreams, but as far as my experiments are concerned, it is possible to improve your sleep and remember dreams better with a some tech tricks, and influencing your dreams works occasionally. It's not exactly Inception-level, but it's probably as close as you can get for now. That said, I'm still not entirely certain how I feel about induced dreams—it seems that if, like some research suggests, dreams are a way to work out problems and organize your memories—they might be best left alone. I can say for certain that for my own mental health I'll be returning to quiet, tech-free slumber. How about you, have you ever tried to induce dreams or alter your sleep with technology? Share your experiences in the comments. Title image remixed from Olly (Shutterstock).  |
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April 19th, 2012Top StoryPolice Arrest Murder Suspects In Truck Identified By Jalopnik CommentersBy Matt Hardigree
Two suspects are now in custody related to the fatal crash. Police now tell us that Jalopnik commenters help was "critical" to solving the case. Great work team! Betty Marcelle Wheeler was walking along Rosser Avenue in Waynesboro on April 7th when she was struck by a vehicle and killed. The driver fled, but police found a part of the vehicle they believe struck Wheeler and posted it to the web with the hopes of identifying it. Shortly after posting the image our readers identified it as part of a Ford F-150 grille, probably from a 2000 year model. We reached out to the local police department, who then used that information to build their case. Now, less than two weeks later, there are two suspects in custody and the WPD. said they're grateful to the information that led them to the men involved. "Without the identification of the vehicle — we obviously may have still gotten the anonymous tip — but I think it all pointed in the right direction so that was critical to the case," Captain Kelly Walker told Jalopnik. Walker also confirmed that when they arrested the suspects they found the F-150 with the missing grille piece and it fit. Having worked prior hit-and-run accidents, Captain Walker says it's often like "looking for a needle in the haystack" trying to piece the parts together. "To have someone who is familiar with the parts of automobiles that can say 'Oh, well, that is from this make, this model, this year range' is very helpful," says Walker. Here's a chronology of what happened courtesy of the Waynesboro Police:
Both men are currently being held in jail without bond.
"Any time you have an unsolved death in a community it's very difficult for the community to swallow," says Walker. "Being able to piece it together and bring the persons responsible to justice is really big for any community. I really appreciate your help and your readers' help in helping us bring this to a successful resolution." A lot of great police work went into the quick solving of the crime and Jalopnik commenters were just a small part of it, but we'd like to thank all of our commenters for their quick response. Yet again, you provide us with proof that we have the smartest and most knowledgeable readers in the world. Tip of the hat to all of y'all.  |
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