Dreaming the Virtual: How Lucid Dream Practice Can Inform VR Development
Journal For Virtual Worlds Research July 30, 2018 DOI: 10.4101/jvwr.v11i2.7249 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Dreaming Lucid dreaming |
| Key points | Proposes that dream research is highly relevant to VR development as a catalyst for ethical critique of emerging commercial technologies. |
Abstract
Using the grounded theory method (GTM), this article proposes an “integral” model for studying the development and use of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) technologies. Integral models seek holistic understanding by combining third-person, empirical perspectives with first-person, subjective experience. Here, the proposed model provides a comparative analysis of immersive virtual reality (VR) platforms and the practice of lucid dreaming (maintaining conscious self-awareness while dreaming). Based on a discursive analysis of technologists’ statements about VR, and a review of literature on lucid dreaming, this article identifies a largely unexamined area of research. Indeed, the proposed model suggests that dream research is highly relevant to VR development as a catalyst for ethical critique of emerging commercial technologies. Though informed by Buddhist philosophy, this is primarily a secular approach based in moral-developmental psychology and contemplative studies. It constitutes an example of Contemplative Media Studies, which involves the application of contemplative practices and principles to the critical analysis of media technologies, content, and institutions.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varieties of Lucid Dreaming Experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Neurobiology of Consciousness: Lucid Dreaming Wakes Up | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| What I make up when I wake up: anti-experience views and narrative fabrication of dreams | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| New perspectives for the study of lucid dreaming: From brain stimulation to philosophical theories of self-consciousness | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Lucid dreaming: Evidence and methodology | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |