Q: Where would I be without my faithful PEST vibrrrrrrrrrrrrating and BLINKIN*G throughout the day?

A: Probably less aware -- in both worlds...

The P.E.S.T. (Programmable Electronic State Tester) is a device which looks like a beeper. You can attach it to your belt or carry it in your pocket or purse. The basic premise is that the device will vibrate, beep, flash - or any combination of the three - at random intervals during your waking day to alert you to perform a reality test. We get so caught up in our jobs and personal problems that we often go several hours or even an entire day without performing a single reality check. Serious lucid dreamers know that failure to do our reality checks is a recipe for fewer lucid dreams. Consequently, this small device is designed to help you remember by PESTering you.

The idea of random reminders is a good one. Those who have wrist watches which beep every hour on the hour will tell you that it isn't long before you don't even notice it. Besides being random, the P.E.S.T. allows you to choose "intervals" for its cues. For instance, you might want to be reminded randomly at least once each hour, or if that is too annoying for you (or your co-workers) you can change it to give you random reminders less often.

The P.E.S.T. also has a reality check button like the NovaDreamer. Upon feeling it vibrate or hearing it beep, you look down at it and push the reality test button. It will flash and beep as you do so (if you are awake). If it doesn't flash or beep properly, or has some new bizarre characteristics that you haven't noticed before - guess what - you're dreaming! This feature is based on the fact that your P.E.S.T. is likely to appear in your dreams (day residue), and that it - like anything mechanical in dreams - will almost certainly fail to function properly. I personally suggest that you expand your reality tests to include more than just pushing the P.E.S.T. button when it goes off. Keep in practice on other proven effective reality tests as well.

The P.E.S.T. can also be used as an accessory to the NovaDreamer. Using a cable, you can plug it into the top of your mask. When the NovaDreamer detects that you are dreaming and signals you, it will also activate the P.E.S.T. at the same time. You won't be the first one to come up with the idea of attaching it to the front of your underwear and setting it to "vibrate".

And finally, a device whose function it is to "randomly remind" has other applications beyond lucid dreaming. It works for lucid living as well. It can remind us to pause, to be aware, to be grateful, to acknowledge God or repeat an affirmation. Anything worthwhile that we wish to do that gets easily forgotten and neglected in the course of our typically habitual days can benefit from this clever little invention.

The P.E.S.T. is powered by a single AA battery. It sells for $150 from the Lucidity Institute with a discount for members. I believe it comes with their Course in Lucid Dreaming. /Stephen Berlin

Stardate 3-12-2000

Hi gang ! LOVE my P.E.S.T. Only thing is . . . the li'l feller just doesn't stay put ! I'm always afraid that I'll lose it during the course of the day and, in fact, it HAS fallen off my belt on 1 or 2 occasions. May I offer a suggestion: Could the "li'l P" :) be redesigned in beeper-mode, i.e., set in a "cradle" with a strong clip.

Hi All !

Does anybody knows when Lucidity Institute is going to sell P.E.S.T. again ? I don't have any and want to have simple RC device which I can quickly use throughout the day. I'm also thinking of buying cheap electronic watches which can beep and blink if I push the button, as long as I don't have a P.E.S.T.

Hey Dmitri-

That's really a shame that the P.E.S.T. isn't currently available. While I was a test subject for the Lucidity Institute, I wore the P.E.S.T. all the time. What a great reality check tool!

I too do not have a P.E.S.T.. However, I DO have a cool reality checker for my computer. Basically, it's a hacked version of a stretch break screen saver. People sometimes use these screen savers to remind them to get up out of their chair every so often in order to avoid repetitive task injuries. The version I have says "are you dreaming?" instead of "Time to take a break!"

The only feature that it lacks is randomness. I wish it would go off at random times instead of every half hour. I'm sure there is probably a quick and easy way to make the reminder time random, but I'm not too savvy at programming.

I bought today electronic Casio watches for 20$. They are beeping when you push the button and change modes to "alarm" and "counter". So, I remember what are the numbers on counter and check them regularly. Once an hour my watches beeping to notify the full hour, I use it to do additional daily check. Didn't use it in my dreams so far, but I will write if it will work for LD.

Also I had a thought about dream signs. My understanding is that we have to achieve mechanical state of the mind when we do RC every dream sign encounter. Dream signs are different for different people and we should take an effort to recognize our own signs. So, my question is -- does anybody tried to create artificial dream signs ? I think if, for example, look to lava lamp for 30 minutes or so before sleeping time during several days And do RC every 5 minutes, it might happen that the lava lamp will appear in our dreams and we already have a habit to do RC on lava lamp. Does anybody tried such things or it's better to find out our natural dream signs ?

Hello,

I'd like to find out about anybody's efforts with tactile induction. PEST type stuff. I'm experimenting with pagers right now since the PEST is no longer available. At night, I'm trying to use all 3 of the 6 senses to attain frequent lucidity. I'll have to be patient and wait to buy the Lucidity Institute's Smell, Taste, and Thought Induction devices. Any comments, ideas, personal experiments, etc. on tactile induction would be appreciated. Not much on the forum on the PEST unfortunately. Thanks, Michael

Hi, Mike

Welcome here! As far as I know it is Keelin, who has the most experience with PEST here in the forum. But she is busy these days preparing the upcoming (November) DreamCamp. Be sure she will read this message and she will respond. But maybe it takes some time. Feel free to browse the forum. You'll find many interesting things here.

If it is for smell: Use grape seed oil and find it in your dreams. For the taste cheese seems to be preferred (lots of proteins used for awareness purposes, I think)

And didn't you know about the many available thought induction devices here?

Just let me numerate:

MILD, RC, RI, DSA training: These are for free, but I would recommend purchasing Stephen's books to increase the inductive voltage and magnetic field gauge.

If you want to modulate your brainwaves, read the articles on LI website. The more you read, the more different patterns you can achieve.

The "Course in Lucid Dreaming": Not for free, but very worthy. A toolkit of different multidimensional impulses. Some say it induces strange thoughts on awareness and so on.

And then of course the hyper - device:

Dreaming and Awakening: DreamCamp, the next one upcoming in November, 1st, Big Island. This is intensifying all senses, and increasing awareness, like you never did it.

http://www.lucidity.com/DAAK02/index.html

If that isn't enough:

Enjoy visiting my website! Find chosen (lucid) dream reports, a report of the Maui DreamCamp -Lucidity Institute in 2001, impressions from ASDreams meeting 8/2002, links, ...

http://home.t-online.de/home/Ralf.Penderak/index.htm

Get lucid!

Yours Ralf

P.S. Have you heard about the NovaDreamer can be used to trigger external devices, like the DreamSpeaker or any other device able to respond to ND trigger impulses? As far as I know, LI hasn't developed a vibrating device for ND.

Ralf

The ND can trigger the P.E.S.T. to vibrate when a cue is given. My P.E.S.T. isn't working properly so I have to use my vibrating watch (when the countdown or alarm reaches 0 it vibrates) to remind me to do reality checks. I wish there was another type of vibrating device that hooks to the ND for the triggers. There are a number of vibrating clocks on the market but of course they don't hook to a ND, it will only vibrate to wake you up at the alarm time you set. I have not heard that the LI is developing a Smell, Taste, and Thought Induction devices. Where can I read about it?

Joseph

Thanks Ralf. I'll check out your website. Wish I could go to the Dreamcamp. I have been having fun with the ND and the books/articles. You're right, intention and perception/thought are the best inducers. I was being silly. Maybe a brain probe through the ear, or a perfume jet misted during REM. Maybe a taste strip into the mouth emitting the taste of ripe dates during REM. I can envision a Borg Robot Creature going to bed at night. Twisted. Just a means to an end I know. Most Americans kind of got ripped off and haven't been trained to use or pay attention to this amazing facilty-like Indians/Shamans/Aboriginies/Tibetans/Samoi etc. Using technology to escape from technology. I'll try the grape seed oil for shits and giggles. I don't know much about the triggering capabilities of the ND recepticle. I'm using 2 pagers with 3 alarms each set to vibrate from 3am to 6am. I have to muffle them heavily with socks. If I have any major luck, I'll let you know.

Hi Joseph, thanks for the input--what kind of watch is that?

Good Dreaming and Take Care, Michael

Hi, dreamers

Joseph, hope I don't PEST you. But maybe you SHOULD ask Stephen, if he puts something on the web, so at least this dreamy idea would come true and we all can read about it. And while waiting for a response you might just induce thoughts about: How odd is this conversation? Or: Who then is going to build these devices? Am I the ONE?

Could we get much higher?

Oddly yours

Ralf

The watch is called Vibralite3 and you should be able to find it through a standard search. The vibration is not strong enough to be a cue though for dreams. I like is as a reminder to do reality checks without people hearing my watch alarm go on every half hour or hour. I think there are a few pager type vibrating clocks(small clocks with timers that clip to the belt like a pager) you can find on the internet that have a stronger vibration.

Joseph and Michael

Joseph, please excuse me, I didn't mean to bother you. I sometimes can't keep from playing with the words and situations. Thanks for the details on the vibrating etc. devices. How do these reminders work for you? Does the habit of state checking cued by a signal somehow carry over into the night, Joseph, and how? Do you or did you ever use ND and PEST combined in the night? How did that work? And Michael, how does your sleep schedule pay off?

Time for MILD now (In fact it may be too late, already)

Yours Ralf

I will tell you the truth, I have not had success with doing reality checks in my dreams. At one time I use to couple them with affirmations and I remember I once had like 18 lucid dreams in 6 months but that was a while ago(also, affirmations only really work if you are in an altered state). But lately I have not done them. I just recently put a new battery in my watch so am now wearing it. Different techniques work for different people, I don't find RC to work for me but maybe they work for you. I used to sleep with my PEST but did not get used to wearing it. I had trouble on where to place it so it would not wake me up but would go into my dreams. LI would need to redesign the PEST for wearability and vibration level. Now my PEST is not working so I can't try it again.

Greetings Ralf, I actually had a weird night the other night with the pagers. They woke me up almost everytime. But the night was filled with nightmares, then escaping from them via lucid dreams, then back to false awakenings (which were nightmares), then escape via lucidity. A rough night, but still: Lucidity!! I think there were three separate lucid strings (which is a record for me for one night). I think my obsession with devices just strengthens my intention and resolve. I actually have never achieved lucidity with a mechanical device cue (though I've seen the ND lights in a lucid dream I was already in-as white firework-like subtle energy mini-explosions). I'm going to wrap the pagers in 4 socks tonight-they're too damn strong and loud. As far as sleep schedule, I take 1 & ½ hour lunches at work to sleep, so that compensates when I don't get enough Z's due to mechanical induction self-torture.

Lucidity is Psychological/Spiritual Heroin with only good side effects. The drug-free drug of Freedom. Michael

Hi, Joseph

Thanks for being true. In spite of all my reality checks in daytime, I only had two times used them in my dreams, without success. Nonetheless I can clearly say, that reality checking increases dreamsign - awareness, at least increases frequency of LD for me. Have you ever worked with prospective memory tasks? I think combining that with DSA training and RC is worth a try. At least for me it worked fine. But the most powerful method is still MILD and nap combination. And I think, that is, what lets Michael succeed, of course combined with good motivation. Short periods of awakening increase chances of WILDs. Michael, congratulations and thanks for sharing your motivating experiences. Have you ever experienced incorporations of vibration cues in your dreams? How did that feel / look?

Lucid being is the drug that sets me free

Yours Ralf

Ralf,

No cues in dreams from vibration yet. Still too recent for me to give it any real yeah or nay right now. So far they just wake me up, but that gets the lucid juices flowing and massive regular dream recall too of course. I forgot that I actually did get ONE lucid induction from the ND--using the Reality Button. That one prompted my first experience going through mirrors into a most bizzare world. I ended up with my son, wife, and brother looking at counter selves in yet another mirror world of their own. I suggested that we blow healing energy into our counter selves (since healing aspects are one of the things I wanted to try). We blew awesome blue/white energy balls of dust at our counter selves which made them glow blue/white. It was cool. My son (he's two) was giggling and loved it. My brother blew only on his counter-brain, which I chuckled over in the dream since he's a super-intellectual. I just happened to speak with him the next day (he lives in another state) and he reported a cold, icy, blueish dream which he couldn't recall well(he hasn't achieved lucidity yet). That was interesting for what it's worth--who knows?......The world of the unknown and unknowable are fathomless.

I'll keep waiting for the vibration at my abdomen from the pagers telling me in dreams it's time to get lucid.

Adios, Michael

Hi Dreamers!

My experience using a combination of external lucid dream induction devices such as the PEST (vibration) and DreamSpeaker (sound) with the NovaDreamer (light and optional sound) is fairly limited, as my beloved is a rather light sleeper.

Research did win out though when Stephen asked me to give the DreamSpeaker a try. I never said a word that first night as I surreptitiously slipped it 'neath my pillow, donned my NovaDreamer, and drifted into dreamland.

Later that evening I awoke, as did my husband beside me. In the quiet mid-night moonlight he became sweetly amorous. All was going very nicely indeed -- until we heard someone speaking very nearby, the voice oddly muffled for its seeming proximity. I quickly realized that the DreamSpeaker had somehow been triggered! Not wishing my lover to become distracted, I urgently whispered, "Pay no attention to the voice beneath the pillow!"

In the next moment when I truly awoke, I found my undisturbed sleeping companion beside me and had a good laugh at the folly.

For those who miss the gizmos, remarkable as they may be, just remember what the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz said. You have had what it takes inside you all along. ;)

Good Vibrations & Brilliant Light to all, Keelin

PS: Ralf, you are most assuredly the delightfully (odd) ONE. ;)

Gadget-Guy here. This post is for obsessive-compulsive folks trying to get lucid more frequently than every couple weeks. I hope to give up all the gear someday, but not until I develop this lucidity faculty that has been ignored and underdeveloped for too many years.

My lucidity ratio is continually improving, and maybe someone else can get some ideas from my tech-madness.

Pagers are too difficult for me in regards to subtle cueing. They are great for waking up. I use one for regular dream recall so I don't have to wake up my wife with an audible alarm (I use the vibe setting obviously for the pager). It has (3) alarms, so I set it for 1:30am, 3:00am, and 4:30am. I get many regular dreams recalled this way, and also put on the ND at 3:00am because it's not comfortable (for me) for the whole night. I've found the best place for the pager is wrapped in a dress sock, then wrapped around the wrist (I tried the underwear of course--too alarming!!! That's a core zone -- not good to be radically buzzed in that area in the middle of a dream). Sometimes I bypass the pager, and sometimes I use the 3:00am alarm only, in order to put on the ND.

I recently bought an Olympus VN-1800 Digital Voice Recorder. It has (4) folders with tons of files and 45-180 minutes depending on what quality setting you use. I use the folders as follows: Folder 1 for: Mid-Sleep dream recall (usually I have to use paper though because of waking up my wife), post-dream recall, and driving post-dream recall (I have to drive an hour to work). Folder 2 for: Memory Techniques/Targeting: Daily, Weekly, Long-Term, Specials etc. (all the goodies from Exploring the World ........etc.) Folder 3 for: Auto-Suggestion stuff: (again, all the goodies from Exploring the World........etc.) Verbal MILD, Self-Hypnosis, Relaxation, Will/Intent Autosuggestion, pre-sleep-pre-meditation auto-suggestion, streaming verbal techniques (like some of the Zen writing meditation techniques-only verbal).

For what it's worth............ Michael

Wow, you guys remind me of some kind of Borg/Talosian cross. (Trekkers will know what I mean.) Someone was asking about dreamsigns, artificial or natural? Well, on two different occasions, I used objects around the house to induce lucidity. The first was a kalimba or thumb piano, which I went about holding and playing and examining every part and thinking, When I next touch this kalimba, I'll be dreaming and will know I'm dreaming. I had partial success with this, as I did pick up the instrument in a dream later that night. However, lucidity remained only as long as I held the kalimba. I spoke to it, and when it didn't talk back to me, or do anything else strange, I lost lucidity and put it down. I tried the same exercise with a very soft piece of fur withno results. Live Long and Prosper

Hi dreamers.. I have found a cheap workable substitute for [pest] atleast till its available again.. I use a simple [kitchen wind up timer] it goes off every hour is fairly loud and dependable It vibrates some too.. I found one in a grocery store for 6 dollars it was disk shaped and small like the dream speaker..Many timers are more bulkey but they make small ones too..When it goes off I know its time for a reality check I give it a quick wind and put it back in lose pocket.Other timers will goe longer than one hour too..They also have small electronic timers for about 15 dollars,, You could also use elastic bands or velcro to hold them on..Im sure the pest is superior product but this methoud will work too!Hope this helps

Has anyone ever come across a watch that might vibrate? Great idea about the egg timer Tom - I'll look into that. Is the PEST available for sale at the moment and if so where?

Hi Tadhg,

Unfortunately, the PEST is no longer available. However, there is a product called the WatchMinder2 that claims to have "a training mode and a reminder mode, making it an ideal silent daily reminder device in addition to the perfect tool to assist behavioral change." http://watchminder.com

Happy reality testing, Keelin

Tadhg, check out the VibraLite 3. I used it to cue me for reality tests during the day. I also tried it as an LD induction device, without success.

Paul

I'm leary about vibration as a cue. We know the brain shuts down awareness of the body. I think the eyes (like with the ND light), ears, and nose (REM triggered oil infuser) are the best bets.

Dear Gordon,

Besides Keelin, I wonder how many people actually own a PEST and a NovaDreamer and connected them together to use vibration solely as a cue. Unless there is a lot of clinical results I don't know about, that show vibration cues are wholly ineffective, I believe the jury is still out. The body may be paralyzed during REM, but it's still sending nerve impulse signals to the brain. If that were false then I could sneak up to you while you're asleep and put a lit cigarette on your arm and you wouldn't wake up (presuming you didn't smell the smoke first). My point is you do feel physical sensations during sleep and if the right sensation is delivered you can use it as a cue. The interface circuit I built connects the ND to a vibrating glove. It can deliver up to 10 pulses to a glove, watch or finger vibrator. The glove comes with two intensity settings for light or strong vibrations. The glove is the Fukuoku. It costs about $50 USD and can be found online at many sex-toy websites. There is also a fingertip vibrator called the Fukuoku 9000. It sells for about $25 USD. I still need to buy the finger vibrator. The pulse period for the interface output is about 3.4 seconds and the positive duty cycle is adjustable from 70 milli-seconds on to 3.3 seconds on. The 50% duty cycle is 1.7 seconds. 10 pulses at 3.3 seconds each is 33 seconds of continuous on time. The glove was chosen because it was available and the fingertips have lots of nerve endings. It has yet to be tested because the prototype is still a ball of wires and too fragile to connect to a sleeper. I am in favor of trying all kinds of different cueing stimuli. Besides that it's fun to experiment with building LDIDs.

Regards,

Scot Stride

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the P.E.S.T. was intended primarily for use during waking hours as a reality check reminder.

I did hook it up to my dreamlight, once: the vibration effectively brought me to instant full consciousness!

Peter

We'd definitely need to control the intensity of the vibration. You'd also have to do lots of daytime preparation--a train going by wakes you up unless you are used to it. Because of this effect, first experiences are not enough to draw conclusions.

Hi all,

Yes Peter recall the literature did say that it the P.E.S.T. was to be used for daytime reminders.

Don't know if the first models hooked up to the ND or not, never had one.

Wonder, do certain brainwaves indicate REM sleep? Do they indicate when a dream is taking place? If so a monitor that could que at a certain time after the dream begins might be an alternative to a REM detectory. Wonder how far brainwaves travel. Can they be picked up at a distance? Then a device could be nearby and not have to be worn on the body.

Regards,

Daniel.

Gee thanks guys for all the advice and tips.

Scot,

Laberge's first book,Lucid Dreaming, pages 161-166 are worth a re-read. The parts that stick out for me are when they played tapes during REM that said, "This is a dream", the subjects became lucid one third of the time! Also, Dement and Wolpert found "that tactile stimuli were more frequently incorporated into dreams than either light or sound". It sounds like the finger vibrators are a good thing to try.

It also says that smell does not pass through the thalamus, so it may not be as inhibited as other senses when we dream.

I'm most interested in your interface circuit. I seriously want to trigger an oil infusion device, audio cue, and now I want to try the fing-viber you're working on.

I installed a LAN system in my home and put one plug in the bedroom just in case there is some way I can find a way to control a lucidity device with the computer or, ehem, get polygraph data while I sleep. Now I'm waiting for the equipment to become avaliable. (Geekiness level fully revealed.)

I'd love to hear more about how you put these things together. Unless of course, you plan to market them and its a secret.

Gordon

Dear Gordon,

Dement and Wolperts work seems to have been done a long time ago. Is there anything more current? I ask because LaBerge seems to have concluded that light was the most effective stimuli for cueing. It doesn't really matter because we are proceeding with the vibrating glove experiment anyway. Presently all the finger tips on the glove vibrate at once at the same rate. With a few mods it may be possible to selectively vibrate the fingertips in a pattern'Pinky-Ring-Middle-Index-Thumb or randomly. The vibrations in the fingers may weave their way into the mind in strange ways'tapping a finger, plucking a guitar string, touching something. It will be interesting to see how the cues incorporate. If you want to contribute to the effort please send me a Fukuoku 9000 finger vibrator (I can email you my mailing address). In exchange I can send you a schematic of the ND vibration interface circuit, which can also work to control your CD player or Oil Infuser. If it's easy enough to build I may send you a working interface box. The only thing that's confidential is the eye movement tracking system which I'm pursuing getting patented.

If I make it to Kalani in July I'll bring all my LDID gadgets to demonstrate to Stephen and the group, if they are interested. And if there's enough time I'd like to make an interface that connects two NDs together. I know how to get signals out of the ND indicating it's delivering a cue. But since I don't have any more working knowledge about the ND audio port, I don't know how to force the ND to deliver a cue. If I did (if someone told me how), the shared lucid dream experiment may be possible to conduct at Kalani, if they are interested.

Regards,

Scot Stride

Scot:

I think the group will be most interested in your gadgets at Kalani...I hope to see you there!

Peter

Scot,

You've got mail.

Scot -

It would be awful nice to meet you. I hope you can find you way to join us at the July Hawaii conclave... -- Cominick

Dominick,

What's a Cominick? A comic Dominick?

Paul