LuciEntry: A Modular Lab-Based Lucid Dreaming Induction
Prototype
Po-Yao (Cosmos) Wang∗

Exertion Games Lab, Department of
Human-Centred Computing, Monash
UniversityMelbourne, Australia
cosmos@exertiongameslab.org

Antony Smith Loose

Exertion Games Lab, Department of
Human-Centred Computing, Monash
University
Melbourne, Australia
aloo0008@student.monash.edu

Nathaniel Lee Yung Xiang∗

Exertion Games Lab, Department of
Human-Centred Computing, Monash
University
Melbourne, Australia
nlee0032@student.monash.edu

Nathan Semertzidis

Institute of Social Neuroscience
Melbourne, Australia
nathan@exertiongameslab.org

ABSTRACT
Lucid Dreaming, a unique state of consciousness whilst asleep
where dreamers can engage in volitional actions not limited by
the constraints of the physical world and control their dream contents, offers various mental and physical health benefits. Current
research combining multiple lucid dreaming induction techniques
is often conducted in a lab setting, lacking autonomy by relying on
researchers to monitor manually. Recent studies also advocate fora modular system that can integrate multiple lucid dreaming induction techniques. We present LuciEntry, a prototype that includes amobile app that guides users through pre-sleep cognitive trainingand a system that assesses the user’s sleep stage and triggers theexternal stimuli automatically to induce lucid dreams. We hopethat this modular autonomous system will improve the research
process, aiding in further research into lucid dreams.

CCS CONCEPTS• Human-centered computing → Interaction devices.

KEYWORDS
Lucid dreaming; induction; portable; autonomous; modular; interactive devices; prototype; system
ACM Reference Format:
Po-Yao (Cosmos) Wang, Nathaniel Lee Yung Xiang, Rohit Rajesh, Antony
Smith Loose, Nathan Semertzidis, and Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller. 2024. LuciEntry: A Modular Lab-Based Lucid Dreaming Induction Prototype. In Extended
Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems∗ Both authors contributed equally to this work.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal orclassroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributedfor profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citationon the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored.
For all other uses, contact the owner/author(s).
CHI EA ’24, May 11–16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA© 2024 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
ACM ISBN 979-8-4007-0331-7/24/05
https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3649123

Rohit Rajesh

Exertion Games Lab, Department of
Human-Centred Computing, Monash
University
Melbourne, Australia
rraj0029@student.Monash.edu

Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller

Exertion Games Lab, Department of
Human-Centred Computing, Monash
University
Melbourne, Australia
floyd@exertiongameslab.org(CHI EA ’24), May 11–16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA,2 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3649123

1INTRODUCTION AND RELATED WORK

Lucid Dreaming, a unique state of consciousness whilst asleep [1]where dreamers can engage in volitional actions not limited by theconstraints of the physical world and are able to control their dreamcontents [6], offers various mental and physical health benefits [5].
Some of these benefits include gaining self-confidence and selfcontrol [3]. Therapies focused on lucid dreams can also be usefulfor treating sleep disorders [4].
Recent research has trended towards combining induction techniques in a lab setting to induce lucid dreams. Examples are where
cognitive training is combined with external stimuli to help improve
the success rate of inducing lucid dreams [2]. However, researchers
need to manually trigger the external stimuli at the appropriate
time, which is when continuous Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep
is detected [2]. Furthermore, whenever researchers want to try adifferent combination of stimuli, a new system and protocol have tobe developed to test out the success of the combination in inducing
lucid dreams. These limitations present difficulties for the researchof lucid dream induction.

2LUCIENTRYTherefore, we designed LuciEntry, an autonomous and modular
lucid dreaming induction prototype. This system includes a mobile
app for pre-sleep cognitive training and a modular autonomous
system for triggering external stimuli. This modular system provides researchers with a platform to try different combinations oflucid dreaming induction techniques and even add new devices
in the future easily when newly developed lucid dream induction
techniques are discovered. The system also includes a sleep tracker
headband that senses users’ brain and eye signals using electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG) sensors todetermine the sleep stage of the user. When the REM stage is detected, LuciEntry autonomously delivers stimulation, such as visual,auditory, and electrical stimulation to induce lucid dreams. ThisCHI EA ’24, May 11–16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA

Wang et al.

automation eases the process of lucid dream induction, removing
the need for researchers to manually trigger external stimulation
devices.

dream induction strategies. We also thank the Exertion Games Lab
for the feedback and conceptual support they contributed toward
the project and the paper.

3REFERENCES

CONCLUSION

With LuciEntry, we hope to reduce the dependency on researchers
to activate any stimulus manually. Instead, researchers have theopportunity to conduct lucid dreaming induction studies with moreease, with the use of our autonomous system. With this novel lucid
dream induction system, we hope to aid further research into lucid
dreams and their associated benefits.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The production of the videos could not have been possible without
the expertise of Mr. Aleksandar Joseski. Florian "Floyd" Muelleracknowledges the support from the Australian Research Council,especially DP190102068, DP200102612 and LP210200656. We thankKaren Konkoly and Nathan Whitmore for their guidance on lucid[1] Benjamin Baird, Sergio A. Mota-Rolim, and Martin Dresler. 2019. The cognitive
neuroscience of lucid dreaming. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 100 (2019),305–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.008[2] Michelle Carr, Karen Konkoly, Remington Mallett, Christopher Edwards, Kristoffer
Appel, and Mark Blagrove. 2020. Combining presleep cognitive training andREM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction.
Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice (2020).
[3] Daniel Erlacher and Michael Schredl. 2010. Practicing a motor task in a lucid
dream enhances subsequent performance: A pilot study. The Sport Psychologist 24,2 (2010), 157–167.
[4] Brigitte Holzinger, Bernd Saletu, and Gerhard Klösch. 2020. Cognitions in sleep:
lucid dreaming as an intervention for nightmares in patients with posttraumaticstress disorder. Frontiers in Psychology 11 (2020), 1826.
[5] Stephen LaBerge. [n. d.]. Benefits of Lucid Dreaming. https://www.altered-states.
net/barry/newsletter482/[6] Donald W Stewart and David Koulack. 1989. A rating system for lucid dreamcontent. Imagination, Cognition and Personality 9, 1 (1989), 67–74.