The year 2021 seems to be rendering futuristic, dystopian technology films into contemporary reality. Last month’s post about IoB (Internet of Behaviors) being eerily reminiscent of the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report, has been outclassed by this month’s technology news about dream insertion, a technique similar to the one used in Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie Inception. In the movie, an apparatus is able to implant memory engrams into people as a way of altering their beliefs and memories of the past.
In a creepily similar fashion, some companies are looking to leverage technology originally developed by researchers to help control addiction, for use in marketing. Unsurprisingly, researchers have taken umbrage when alerted that their research and discoveries are being used with less altruistic purposes in mind (no pun intended).
Yes, the next advertising space may be your dreams. Insertion technology entails having a person watch a video clip two or three times, then listening to music or smelling a specific scent while they sleep. According to Popular Mechanics, the technology has already been tested by a beverage company, having implanted dreamy scenery of lovely, refreshing waterfalls, cool mountains and of course, beer!
Researchers from MIT and a dozen of other institutions penned an open letter stating:
As sleep and dream researchers, we are deeply concerned about marketing plans aimed at generating profits at the cost of interfering with our natural nocturnal memory processing.
If you want to watch the video clip, visit www.coorsbiggamedream.com, just don’t blame us if you wake up in the middle of the night for a beer run.