Lucid Dreaming for VR Design

As virtual reality designers, we aim to create technological experiences to better human connection and well-being in hopes of helping humankind and society in a positive way. It is therefore important to ground the frameworks we use in genuine human experience rather than mindlessly apply models that do not account for highly personal and profound experiences. One type of experience that could help create positive connection and decrease self-saliency is self-transcendence. However, currently there does not exist a concrete model for designing for self-transcendent experiences with virtual reality. Lucid dreaming, being conscious one is dreaming while in the dream, has the potential to induce self-transcendence; it is essentially the ultimate virtual reality. If lucid dreaming and virtual reality are so similar, then can we research self-transcendent experiences in lucid dreaming and apply that knowledge to virtual reality?

Check out this paper on my thoughts!

Kitson, A., & Riecke, B. E. (2018, March). Can Lucid Dreaming Research Guide Self-Transcendent Experience Design in Virtual Reality?. In 2018 IEEE Workshop on Augmented and Virtual Realities for Good (VAR4Good) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.