2014-09-21 (Su) Reality Checks from Tasker COMPLETED

Some people I met at MeetUp sponsored by the organizers of Twin Cities Transhumanists said they had built a device that gave periodic reminders to perform reality checks. When reality checks become a part of a person's daily routine they continue to perform those reality checks during sleep and gain control of their dreams.

Tasker has always kind of made me nervous because it is the most robust phone automation tool I know of and reputedly the most complex commercially popular one. This is all based on hearsay so basically its reputation scared me. I had purchased the program months ago but never explored it.

Put the two paragraphs together and I finally have a reason to start learning Tasker and get over that initial hump. The program seems to have been simplified and streamlined from the first time I looked at it. I assumed I would be spending an evening pouring over online forums looking for how write a simple algorithm. In fact it was pretty straight forward for someone who has played a little with simpler phone automation programs like Trigger and AutomateIt Pro.

Enough background.
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Two profiles were created in Tasker for Android. The profiles were created to activate every 30 minutes but start 15 minutes apart so every 15 minutes one profile is activated and 15 minutes later the other profile is activated. The two alternate all day. Each profile activates one of two tasks. One task is a notification asking if the user is awake. The other task is a notification asking if the user is asleep. This routine could be simplified by asking a single question every 15 minutes.

 Profiles in Tasker

Tasks in Tasker

Notification specs in Tasker

The notifications appear on the smart watch and vibrate as well. The original device described was a wrist worn unit with a text display which asked the same questions programmed into Tasker. The reason for the alternation of messages was the watch seemed to ignore repeating notifications so by switching it was possible to avoid having the same notification repeated twice in a row.

Notification shown on smart watch. Screen image NOT simulated

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Comments

  1. Awesome.

    Please update with how long it takes to get to the first lucid dream.

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  2. I will. Strangely this has had the opposite effect but in a very good way. Four times per hour I have to assess myself to see if I am awake. I take stock in my surroundings and what's happening. In other words, I disengage the cruise control we operate with most of our day. Sometimes I find I'm doing something entirely different from fifteen minutes ago.
    During one reality check I'm just sitting at home in sweat pants and fifteen minutes later I'm in a park playing Ingress. An hour later I'm making tea on the range. It's actually kind of surreal to take a step back and say, "I'm really doing something right now. This ISN'T a dream." So even if I don't have a single lucid dream this has been a neat project.

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