In the field of sleep and dream technologies, a revolutionary breakthrough has taken place: the Halo headset, developed by the startup Prophetic. With the ambition of transforming nightmares and dreams into conscious adventures, this device promises to give users unprecedented control over the content of their nightly dreams.
Prophetic, enriched by the expertise of professionals who have worked for renowned companies such as Apple and Neuralink, tackles the complexity of lucid dreams using a high-tech headset.
A helmet with innovative technology
The principle is simple in theory : The headset stimulates the brain’s prefrontal cortex during sleep, a region associated with self-awareness and critical thinking, which is crucial for lucid dreaming. This stimulation is done through the use of targeted ultrasound. This non-invasive method allows specific areas of the brain to be activated with remarkable precision.
Unlike older techniques which used light electrical currents applied to the surface of the skin, Prophetic ultrasound penetrates the skull more effectivelyreaching deep brain regions involved in dream generation.
Innovation also lies in theapplication of artificial intelligence which replicates the neural activity typical of natural lucid dreams, thus allowing users to experience dreams where they can, in theory, sculpt stories, modify characters and even change environments as they wish.
You’ll still have to wait to wear the helmet of your dreams
However, Prophetic’s promises have yet to come to fruition. The company plans to finalize hardware development in spring 2024. And she hopes to stabilize the first lucid dream using her ultrasound helmet by winter of the same year.
The first helmets should theoretically be delivered to customers in spring 2025. But with initial funding of just $1.1 million, the project is ambitious and its future will depend heavily on the startup’s ability to overcome technical and financial challenges.