The 1991 Wim Wenders movie "Until the End of the World" had a fascinating premise, about a scientist inventing a device to allow his blind wife to see. The invention, connected to the scientist's head by electrodes, records the biochemical event of seeing. The device would then be physically connected to his wife, and it would transfer the visual data to her brain, bypassing her eyes, and allowing her to "see" whatever had been recorded.

However, the wife dies due to an illness, and it's subsequently discovered that if you leave the device attached when you go to sleep, it can be used to record your dreams. People then become addicted to watching their own dreams the next morning, with it being presented as more alluring than any drug.

Now a Dutch design studio and think tank called Modem claims to have developed a similar machine. Their Dream Recorder is a "magical bedside device" billed as "a portal to your subconscious."

The idea is that when you wake up, you describe your dream to the device, and a "dream weaving" AI model generates video of its interpretation of your dream. It's then played back on the device's screen for you.

Ultra-Low Definition DreamscapesDream Recorder translates your subconscious into ultra-low-definition, impressionistic dreamscapes. After you recount your dream in your preferred language, it's transformed into a short-form reel, rendered in a preselected visual style.

The Ultimate Dream JournalDream Recorder brings dream journaling into the intelligence era, preserving your dreams as visual records. Replay your dream and reflect on its symbolic meanings, tracing patterns that echo into waking life.

In the Wim Wenders movie, there's only one dream-recording prototype, and multiple parties and government agents are trying to get their hands on it. Modem has a very different idea. Their Dream Recorder isn't a secretive prototype they're guarding or a commercial product they're flogging. It was created in the name of research, and the design is available to all:

DIY by Design

Dream Recorder is built with a DIY spirit. The entire device is fully open source, including the code, hardware documentation, and the 3D-printable glow-in-the-dark shell. Download everything from GitHub, gather the off-the-shelf components, and assemble it yourself. No soldering required.

You can learn more here.