Dreams have always held a romantic fascination over mankind. As harbingers of some of the sweetest and most fantastic moments life has to offer, it’s natural for us to dream of controlling our dreams. While this may sound a little too meta for some, who among us hasn’t gazed longingly at a picture of a loved one or favorite vista before turning off the lights for the night? Sadly, such traditional efforts rarely- if ever- allow the dreamer to exercise any control over their dreams. This frustration is slated to change thanks to Japanese tech company Technology Miraiworks (Futureworks), the firm behind the development of a new iPhone App, the Yumemiru (literally “Dream Viewer”). Yumemiru allows users to take the romantic unpredictability out of dreams and control them through subconscious suggestion. When the Yumemiru app is run, a user selects a dream scenario from a pre-set list and the app monitors their sleep cycle using the iPhone’s microphone. Once the user falls into REM sleep, the Yumemiru springs into action and begins playing a soft soundtrack meant to stimulate dreams and guide them in the direction of the selected dream scenario. Best of all, Yumemiru features a built-in alarm function that will make sure a user doesn’t dream too soundly! At present, Yumemiru offers eight dream scenarios to choose from including: a walk in the forest, getting rich, a vacation at the beach, flying, and a scenario that stimulates dreams of love tailored for both men and women. Most interestingly, Yumemiru encourages the discussion of dreams (which is purported to help with retention of fleeting dream scenarios) through its social media integration. While only the bravest among us would update our Facebook pages with a post about a romantic dream that we tried to have, there’s an undeniable amount of entrepreneur cred to be earned by showing your friends that you are dreaming about striking it rich. Or at least, are using your iPhone to try and dream about striking it rich.
