Most people have dreamt at least once in their lives of playing the main part in a Hollywood blockbuster. As a matter of fact, while dreaming at night we often play the lead role now in a horror movie, now in an action. In the morning, however, our memories are usually gone. But will that be the case in the future? Young Bulgarian inventor Emilian Lalev has recently created dream spectacles. They will help us wake up with a clear memory of our most recent dreams.
“A colleague of mine from New Bulgarian University and I got the idea," Emilian Lalev explains. "When we wake up in the morning, it’s best for us to be in a certain sleep phase in which we are almost awake. At that time we don’t have any dreams and we aren’t in deep relaxation. If we wake up during this phase, we feel rested and refreshed. If we awake during another phase, we can get startled and feel tired and sleepy, which usually leads to bad mood during the day. If we set an alarm for a certain hour, we can’t possibly know at which dream phase it will wake us up. The dream spectacles can indicate the shallow phase of sleep we’re in and automatically set off an alarm. We’ll feel more refreshed awaking a bit earlier than waking up later in the wrong sleep phase”.
How do the glasses work? What is their application?
“The spectacles look like the eye shades some people use for sleeping. They’ve got a wireless sensor that captures eyelid movement. This is the dreaming state. The sensor-captured signal is transmitted wirelessly to a computer that indicates the sleep phase and can pick the right time to set off the alarm or, indeed, any other sound signal to wake us up. We’ve also considered other applications. Perhaps the most interesting is the one enabling us to remember our dreams. At night we usually have several dreams but we tend to remember only the last one. However, if we wake up during a dreaming state, we can write down what we’ve dreamt about and keep sleeping. Through our dreams we could get a better idea of ourselves. The glasses have a wireless sensor which is easy to carry and completely harmless. In comparison, putting electrodes on one’s head is uncomfortable and prevents one from sleeping. We are also thinking of identifying better the type of dream one has through the signal’s features, strength or picture. In this way we could know whether one has got an adventure dream, a nightmare, etc. Without waking up we could know in the morning if we’ve had a nightmare, an adventure dream or a solution to a problem.”
During the first phase of sleep people are most susceptible to the power of suggestion. According to Emilian, the dream spectacles can transmit wirelessly sound signals, thus facilitating the acquisition of new information or a foreign language. Emilian has been working for 2 years as a programmer at the Institute of Metal Science at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences where his team is working on a computer vision surveillance system. Inventing gadgets is one of Emilian’s hobbies. He and his colleagues have also created a small and cheap tablet PC.
“It’s got functionality that surpasses common tablet PCs on the market”, Emilian argues. “Its electronics is not closed, which means that new multi-functional devices can be added such as a GPS or a 4G unit that distributes internet like a rooter. It can be used as a measuring device and can be integrated with different sensors such as the dream spectacles or a pulse and blood pressure sensor, which is applicable in medicine”.
Emilian says he’s got a lot of interests varying from science to art. He has finished the Mathematical High School in the town of Veliko Tarnovo. He later studied psychology in the Sofia-based New Bulgarian University and did a master course in cognitive science. “I always welcome the challenges of making something new”, he says. He is also fond of repairing string instruments. He got fired by the above hobby when he had to fix his own guitar.
In the words of Emilian, to repair instruments well one needs imagination, precision and a good knowledge of the materials and their properties.
“I’ve been making guitars and fixing various string instruments such as mandolins and violins for 10 years. This is a very pleasant activity that resembles psychotherapy. The pleasure you derive from calming down an upset person is similar to the feeling you get from tuning a discordant guitar. Furthermore, I am open to experiment- I can create new models and improve my technique to make things faster and better. I’ve made a 14-string guitar and an electrical violin as well as a guitar whose frets look like rays. Perhaps you’ll think the guitar doesn’t sound right. Just the opposite, the tones are completely accurate”, Emilian Lalev concludes.
English version: Vyara Popova
