From: malcolm@wrs.com (Malcolm Humes)
Subject: Sight&Sound Machines FAQ
Organization: Wind River Systems, Inc.
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 00:05:23 GMT

Here's a FAQ from the mind-l list about mind-machines. There's other stuff in 
the ftp archives at asylum.sf.ca.us like bibliographies and resource lists and
list archives. The list has slow traffic and you can subscibe by sending
a request to mind-l-request@asylum.sf.ca.us. I bought one of these machines a 
few months ago and would be happy to discuss it more - except it's quitting
time and I'm out the door. 

 
Author:  "J. Brad Hicks" <jbhicks@mcimail.com>
Release: MM FAQ version 0.1
Date:    Mon, 18 Nov 1991 21:44:00 -0500


AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This is version 0.1 of the FAQ for MIND-L, compiled by J.
Brad Hicks (jbhicks@mcimail.com).  The author is not responsible.  (grin)
Send clarifications, corrections, and suggested additions to the author.
Send requests for additional info to MIND-L@ASYLUM.SF.CA.US.  Send flames to
/dev/null.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mind Machine Digest "Frequently Asked Questions"

Q:  What do you all mean by "mind machines?"

A:  The phrase "mind machines" covers a whole range of technologies that
work directly or indirectly on your mind.  In broad categories, this
includes HemiSynch tapes, light and sound mind machines, TENS and CES
electrical stimulation hardware, biocircuits, lucid dreaming machinery,
consciousness alteration software, and of course the old classic sensory
deprivation tanks.

Q:  What is a HemiSynch tape?

A:  HemiSynch
 and similar tapes are cassette tapes, meant to be played
over headphones, that play different things into each ear, sometimes to
create a binaural beat frequency.  Some use different sythesized
frequencies, and the new Paraliminal tapes use an odd technique of telling
two different stories at the same time, one into each ear, to work directly
onto your subconscious by confusing your conscious mind.  And of course,
there are the old classic hypnotic suggestion tapes and subliminal
programming tapes.

Q:  What is a binaural beat frequency?

A:  The makers of these tapes want to play sounds into your head that are
exactly at the frequencies they want to entrain you to.  The catch is,
there isn't a human being alive or dead who can hear a 10 hertz "pitch"
as one continuous sound.  So they cheat: they play (for example) 450 Hz
into one ear and 460 Hz into the other; theoretically this sets up a
"beat frequency" of 10 Hz (460 - 450 = 10).

Q:  What is a light and sound mind machine?

A:  These consist of a pair of opaque goggles with built-in flashing
lights, and normally a pair of headphones with synchronized beeping sounds.
Studies have shown that if the flashing lights and beeping sounds start at
something close to your current "dominant frequency" and then slowly change
the "beat frequency" it "entrains" your brain to the desired frequency.  So
for example, if you entrain to alpha frequencies, you experience some of
the same benefits as experienced meditators. Additionally, almost all users
report some kind of hallucinations from the flashing lights; mostly colored
moire patterns, but some people see detailed hallucinatory scenes.  And, of
course, many of the same effects as hemisynch can be achieved by the sound
synthesizers in a light and sound mind machine.  Alternatively, most of the
better light and sound mind machines include sound inputs so you can mix
the headphone synthesizers with your choice of music, environmental, or
HemiSynch-like tapes or compact disks.

Q:  What are these "brain wave frequencies" you've mentioned?

A:  While only the most science-ignorant fool thinks that the entire brain
pulses in time to one frequency, EEGs show that at any given time, your
brain produces distinct waveforms in four frequency groupings, called beta
waves (14 to 30 Hz, pronounced hertz, meaning cycles per second), alpha
waves (8 to 13 Hz), theta waves (4 to 7 Hz), and delta waves (1 to 3 Hz).
When we say that you are "in beta state" (which you normally are), what
we're saying is that that's the dominant set of frequencies, the ones with
the highest amplitudes. Beta is associated with alertness, with the highest
frequencies in that range often described as "fight/flight" mode. Alpha
frequencies have long been associated with meditation and relaxation. Theta
waves are considered by some to be associated with a dreamy, creative
states.  Delta waves are generally strongest when you're asleep.

Q:  What is the Ganzfield Effect?

A:  The ganzfield effect is a sort of mini-isolation chamber.  It turns out
that the mind reacts better to a blank but steadily-lit field for sensory
deprivation than it does to darkness.  Many light and sound mind machines
have a setting to produce the ganzfield effect, and at least one, the
Tranquilite, is just for the ganzfield effect.  You can get some of the
effects of this, though, with the cheapest mind-altering technology: cut a
ping-pong ball in half, paint both halves orange or light blue, and tape
them over your eyes, then sit where you can look into a bright light.

Q:  What is the Schumann resonance?

A:  7.83 Hz.  That's the average "resonance" frequency of the Earth's
magnetic field, and some people think that by entraining your brain to 7.83
Hz, you can be more "in tune with the planet."  Whether or not that's true,
it makes sense that it would be a perfectly good alpha meditation
frequency, wouldn't it?  The idea started with TENS (see below) hardware,
but many light and sound mind machines have Schumann resonance entrainment
programs.

Q:  What is lucid dreaming, and how do you do it with a machine?

A:  A lucid dream is one in which you know that you are dreaming, and
therefore have full control over what happens to you in the dream, even
though you're still asleep.  People who are really "into" lucid dreaming
say that it puts your sleeping hours to work to enhance your creativity and
that it helps you get a feeling of control over your waking life to have
your sleeping life under control.  The Lucidity Institute pushes a roughly
thousand-dollar piece of hardware that looks like a slightly oversized set
of light and sound mind machine goggles and monitors you for REM state.
When it detects the onset of REM, it flashes a dim LED onto your eyelids.
The idea is that you'll see the light in front of you in your dream, and
remember that that's your cue that you're dreaming.

Q:  What do electrical stimulation mind machines do?

A:  Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation (TENS) is sort of like
"electrical accupuncture."  Small voltages are run across, for example, an
aching joint, to stimulate healing and endorphin release.  Cranial
Electro-Stimulation (CES) is the next major step: transmitting even smaller
voltages directly across your brain (via electrodes that clip onto your ear
lobes), to stimulate endorphin release and produce the same kind of
brain-wave entrainment as a light and sound mind machine.

Q:  What is a biocircuit?

A:  A biocircuit is made up of copper plates connected via copper wire to
copper plated handles.  You arrange them in specially designed "circuits"
and then lie down on them, holding onto the handles, and it somehow
"balances" your body's electrical fields.  Sounds silly to some of us, but
there were some double-blind studies which suggest that they may be able to
produce mind-altering effects.  They are also available in silver and in
silk, and some people claim different effects depending on the materials.

Q:  What do you mean by consciousness alteration software?

A:  It varies.  Some people stretch this category far enough to include
thinking aids like "idea processors" such as Idea Generator Plus,
Brainstormer, and The Thinking Machine, which offer up thinking strategies
and help you organize your brainstorming sessions, and non-linear
"hypertext" writing systems like HyperTies and Guide.  Then there's "shrink
in a box" software like the old classic Eliza, its modern, hipper
incarnation Racter, PC Guru, and Timothy Leary's (now mostly remaindered)
Mind Mirror.  But much closer to the idea of consciousness alteration
software is a little gem for both PCs and Macintoshes called Synchronicity,
which uses vaguely oriental art and digitized nature sounds to aid you in
meditation upon computer-generated I Ching oracles.

Q:  What are sensory deprivation tanks?

A:  Mostly the same old classic "flotation tanks" pioneered by Dr. Lilly
and publicized in the book and movie {Altered States}.  A flotation tank is
a light-sealed tank of body-temperature water, mixed with enough Epsom
salts to guarantee that you float in it.  After a prolonged period of
sensory deprivation, the "floater" experiences various states of
consciousness alteration.

Q:  You keep saying "consciousness alteration."  Does this have anything to
do with drugs?

A:  Not in the sense that you mean it, probably.  Some (I stress that,
SOME) researchers claim that they've seen a synergistic effect from mixing
light and sound mind machines with some of the experimental nootropics such
as Piracetam.

Q:  Are all of these things legal?

A:  HemiSynch, hypnotic, subliminal and so forth cassette tapes are
entirely legal, though the FDA is considering restricting the advertising
claims that they can make.  Light and sound machines are unregulated by the
FDA due to the fact that a crude form of this kind of hardware pre-existed
the FDA, and is therefore "grandfathered." Biocircuits are currently
unregulated.  TENS and CES are considered medical devices, and available
only by prescription.  And flotation tanks are perfectly legal, albeit
expensive.

Q:  Well, if the FDA can't regulate it, is it safe?

A:  Opinions on the list are sharply divided about this.  Some of the
oldest "mind spas" have confirmed that approximately three out of every ten
thousand sessions with a light and sound mind machine have produced mild
epileptic seizures ... but that almost all of those were in known
epileptics, the kind of people to whom strobe lights are dangerous, too,
and the others turned out to be in undiagnosed epileptics.  Some list users
believe that these machines may somehow "cause" epilepsy in previously
normal people or possibly worsen epilepsy for undiagnosed epileptics, but
these people have NO research or other evidence on their side.

It was once thought that people with migraine headaches should avoid light
and sound mind machines, on the theory that bright lights can trigger
migraine attacks.  In fact, the one real study so far ended up showing that
light and sound mind machines not only don't cause or trigger migraines,
but reduce or eliminate the pain of migraine attacks in 72% or more of
migraine sufferers.  (cf {The Futurist}, July-August 1991, p. 5)

Makers of TENS and CES electro-stimulation hardware recommend against using
their devices if you have a pacemaker or other built-in electronics, for
the fairly obvious reason that the current might interfere with your
existing circuitry.  Also, please remember that TENS and CES hardware are
supposed to be available in America only by prescription to persons under a
doctor's supervision.

Q:  How much will all of this stuff cost me?

A:  The cassette tapes and CDs are competitive with music tapes and CDs,
mostly, with prices ranging from around $10 to $40 for most of them, with
some multi-tape sets running up around $100 or so.  There are light and
sound machines available for under $150, but according to our reviewers,
they're trash.  The cheapest light and sound machine to get decent reviews
is the Shaman, from AlphaLabs, at $180, and better machines run from $300
to $700. Your basic copper biocircuit starts at $50.  TENS and CES hardware
runs from roughly $400 to $1000.  And even a cheap flotation tank will set
you back $4000, not counting all the Epsom salts you have to keep loading
into it.

On the other hand, you may be able to find alternatives to having to buy
some of this.  Michael Hutchison, whose 1981 tome {MegaBrain} kicked off
the current enthusiasm for such hardware, gives a travelling $150 seminar
in which participants get to experiment with various kinds of consciousness
hardware, and some cities have permanent "mind spas" where you can go in
and rent time on the hardware.

Q:  Are circuit diagrams available in case I want to build one of my own?

A:  Several list-users have promised to design simple hardware and upload
the plans, but so far none of them have come through.  The list archives do
include an Amiga BASIC program to produce HemiSynch-like tones on the
Amiga's audio ports.  Also, blueprints are available for a few devices,
such as the TENS, for various prices from a company called <name> at
<address> (send for price list).

Q:  If I build one of my own, can I sell it?

A:  Lots of people are.  You can find the complete list of relevant
American patents in the MIND-L archive at ASYLUM.SF.CA.US.  The most
important of these is Denis Gorges' patent on the Synchro Energizer; Gorges
insists that every other machine in the field infringes on his patent, and
has been threatening to sue for quite some time now.  So far as we can
tell, he hasn't done so yet.

Q:  Where can I read more?

A:  The first and foremost is Michael Hutchison's {MegaBrain} (Ballantine:
1986), a $4.95 paperback which covers a wide range of hardware.  It's
getting a little long in the tooth, but supposedly we should soon see a
1991 update. A little more skeptical and a lot more up-to-date is Judith
Hooper & Dick Teresi's {Would the Buddha Wear a Walkman?} (Simon &
Schuster, 1990), for $16.95 in trade paperback.  Hutchison also publishes
(irregularly) a newsletter called {The MegaBrain Report}, for $36 per year
>from the address at the end of this file.

Q:  So what is a <fill in the blank>?

NAME                  TYPE*   MANUFACTURER  PRICE  NOTES
Binaural Signal Gen.  AUDIO   AudioImagery   $390  Audio synthesizer
HypnoPeripheral Proc. AUDIO   HPP             $40  Sublim tape sets
Paraliminal Tapes     AUDIO   Paraliminal  varies  Range from $10-$35
AlphaSonics           AUDIO   AlphaSonics     $36  40 sublim tapes
Ultra-Meditation I-V  AUDIO   Zygon           $49  Meditation tapes
Synchro Energizer     L&S     Synchro-Tech  $9000  Original; 4-user model,
                                                   prices go to $150k
Relaxman              L&S     Synchro-Tech   $599  10 presets
MC Squared            L&S     L&S Research   $350  1st home model, 12 preset
Innervision PR-1      L&S     Mind Gear      $299  Choice of LED or bulbs
Innervision PR-2      L&S     Mind Gear      $349  Same as above, fully
                                                   programmable
DAVID Paradise        L&S     Comptronics    $695  Fully programmable
DAVID 1               L&S     Comptronics   $3700  Two-person, good audio
Daydreamer            LIGHT   ?               $15  Manually operated, you
                                                   blow into it
Dreamwave II          L&S     AlphaLabs      $695  Programmable, good audio,
                                                   externally expandable
Shaman                L&S     AlphaLabs      $180  Externally expandable
  Electro Stim        CES     AlphaLabs      $300  Add-on to the Shaman or
                                                   Dreamwave II
  EEG Controller      L&S     AlphaLabs      $500  Biofeedback controller
                                                   for Shaman, Dreamwave
Mastermind            L&S     MindsEye       $200  12 preset functions, small
Courier               L&S     MindsEye       $395  Similar to MasterMind
MindsEye Plus         L&S     MindsEye       $895  Programmable, good audio
Synergizer            L&S     MindsEye       $495  MindsEye Plus as add-in
                                                   board for IBM PC
IQ-Tutor              L&S     InnerQuest     $120  A piece of cheap crap
IQ-9110               L&S     InnerQuest     $329  21 preset functions
InnerQuest II         L&S     InnerQuest     $495  21 presets, programmable
InnerQuest III        L&S     InnerQuest     $595  InnerQuest II w/ built-
                                                   in tape deck
InnerQuest Pro-S      L&S     InnerQuest     $895  InnerQuest III w/ micro-
                                                   phone, audio out
RelaxMate             LIGHT   Shealy         $150  Lousy frequency control
Tranquilite           LIGHT   Tranquilite    $500  Ganzfield effect
Theta-One             L&S     ?              $195  Ganzfield effect, audio
DreamLight            DREAM   Lucidity Inst. $999  Lucid dreaming hardware
Alpha-Stim CS         CES     ?              $650  Original CES hardware
Mind Man              CES     ?              $625  German Alpha-Stim clone
Endo Stim             CES     MegaBrain      $995  State of the art CES
Nustar II             CES     Nustar         $399  Cheaper, less flexible CES
Brain Tuner 5 (BT-5)  CES     ?              $350  Inexpensive CES
L&S TurboCharger      CES     ?              $299  Add CES to any L&S machine
Alphapacer II         L&S,CES ?              $495  Combines L&S and CES
Bio Cy 2000           L&S,CES ?              $595  Combines L&S, ganzfield,
                                                   and CES
IdeaGenerator Plus    SOFTW   Experience     $195  MS-DOS
                              in Software
Brainstormer          SOFTW   Soft Path       $75  MS-DOS
The Thinking Machine  SOFTW   Psychological   $90  MS-DOS, Apple II
                              Psoftware
HyperTies             SOFTW   Cognetics      $349  MS-DOS
Guide                 SOFTW   OWL               ?  MS-DOS, Macintosh
Eliza                 SOFTW   various      varies  everything
Racter                SOFTW   Mindscape       $45  MS-DOS, Macintosh
PC Guru               SOFTW   ?              $100  MS-DOS
Mind Mirror           SOFTW   Mindscape       $15? MS-DOS
Synchronicity         SOFTW   Visionary Sfwr  $60  MS-DOS, Macintosh

 * AUDIO = Audio stimulation, tapes (audio)
   LIGHT = Photic stimulation (light only)
   L&S   = Light and sound mind machine
   CES   = TENS and CES electrical stimulation
   DREAM = Lucid dreaming hardware
   SOFTW = Computer software

Q:  So where can I find and buy all of this stuff?

A:  Some of it's at Sharper Image, Hammacher Schlemmer, and other yuppie
toy stores, but the best selection and prices are from two dealers, both of
whom offer good catalogs:

    MegaBrain                   Tools for Exploration
    P.O. Box 2205               4460 Redwood Highway, Suite 2
    Sausalito, CA 94965-9998    San Rafael, CA 94903
    Voice: (415) 332-8323       Voice: (800) 456-9887
    Fax:   (415) 332-8327       Fax:   (415) 499-9047

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This is version 0.1 of the FAQ for MIND-L, compiled by J.
Brad Hicks (jbhicks@mcimail.com).  The author is not responsible.  (grin)
Send clarifications, corrections, and suggested additions to the author.
Send requests for additional info to MIND-L@ASYLUM.SF.CA.US.  Send flames to
/dev/null.


Newsgroups: alt.consciousness