Can’t Lucid Dream? New Hand Glove Designed by MIT Now Enables Dream Control

Figure 1: Dormio glove with sensors that track the user’s sleep [1]

Written by: Lakshmi Vemula ’29

Edited by: Joanna Sohn ’28

Whether it’s fighting against ten thousand zombies or having godly water powers like Percy Jackson, dreams have endless possibilities. Some people have the ability to control their dreams, crafting their own special universe without bounds. This is known as lucid dreaming, which is when the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming, and only 21% of the population experiences this special phenomenon once a month [6,8]. Dreams have fascinated humans for many years, particularly because the study of dreams is based only on a collection of reports rather than direct observations [4]. However, the rise of new technology such as Dormio, a targeted dream incubation device made by MIT Media Lab, is opening up new possibilities for dream experimentation.

The Dormio system focuses on the transition state between wakefulness and sleep, or hypnagogia, to influence the user’s dreams. Electroencephalogram recordings, which measure the electrical signals of the brain, show that electrical activity during the hypnagogic state is most similar to the signals seen during the fourth stage of sleep, REM, and involves a lot of activity in the secondary visual cortex [2, 5]. To pinpoint the hypnagogic state, Dormio consists of a hand-worn sleep tracker that monitors heart rate, finger flexion, and electrodermal activity (EDA), unlike the traditional use of polysomnographic (PSG) sensors, which involve numerous wires and sensors that can interfere with sleep quality. Heart rate is monitored with Adafruit’s Pulse Sensor Amped on the middle finger, muscle tone is tracked with a voltage divider and a 4.5’’ Sparkfun flex sensor, and EDA is recorded at the bottom of the wrist, with all three sensors sampled at 100Hz and set after the user has lain down for 120 seconds [3]. In addition to the hand-worn sensor, Dormio is paired with an app that records dream reports using Bluetooth and provides audio cues to the users during hypnagogia, a technique known as targeted dream incubation (TDI) [3]. After waking up the user, the system plays an audio cue, prompting the user to think about specific ideas such as “rabbit” or “tree,” the goal being to integrate these topics in the next set of dreams [8]. This process is repeated after a few minutes, collecting dream reports from users and cueing the ideas for the subsequent dreams.

The research study discovered that dream incubation was effective with Dormio, with 67% of the Sleep + Tree group awakenings resulting in dream reports that included the auditory prime “Tree,” captured by Dormio’s audio system [3]. The results suggested that the Dormio device could track sleep onset and record dream reports with enough specificity to accomplish TDI, incorporating self-chosen themes in hypnagogic dreams [3].

With the potential to influence dream content, Dormio could be utilized for augmenting memory, learning, and creativity, and can even potentially be used to enhance performance on a specific task in the future [3, 8]. Many studies have shown significant correlations between dream content and sleep-dependent memory processing, such as a study in which participants attempted to influence their dream content towards a specific problem, resulting in about a third figuring out a solution in their dream [3, 7]. With untapped potential for targeted dream incubation, Dormio represents a significant first step in sleep technology, paving the way for future research that dives deeper into the unconscious world of dreams.

References

1. Parada M. Dormio, the open source glove developed by MIT that allows hacking your dreams [Internet]. OpenExpo Europe 2021 - Virtual Experience. 2020 [cited 2025 Oct 7]. Available from: https://openexpoeurope.com/en/dormio-the-open-source-glove-developed-by-mit-that-allows-hacking-your-dreams/

2. Behind the Veil of Hypnagogic Sleep | Harvard Medicine Magazine [Internet]. [cited 2025 Oct 7]. Available from: https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/behind-veil-hypnagogic-sleep

3. Horowitz AH, Cunningham TJ, Maes P, Stickgold R. Dormio: A Targeted Dream Incubation Device. Conscious Cogn. 2020 Aug;83:102938.

4. Nir Y, Tononi G. Dreaming and the brain: from phenomenology to neurophysiology. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2010 Feb 1;14(2):88–100.

5. Healthline [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2025 Oct 7]. Hypnagogia: How the State Between Wakefulness and Sleep Works. Available from: https://www.healthline.com/health/hypnagogi

6. Lucid Dreams - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics [Internet]. [cited 2025 Oct 7]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/lucid-dreams

7. (PDF) The “Committee of Sleep”: A Study of Dream Incubation for Problem Solving [Internet]. [cited 2025 Oct 7]. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254735243_The_Committee_of_Sleep_A_Study_of_Dream_Incubation_for_Problem_Solving

8. MIT Media Lab [Internet]. [cited 2025 Oct 6]. Project Overview ‹ Dormio: Interfacing with Dreams. Available from: https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/sleep-creativity/overview/