Why don't we still have PASIV device from Inception?

Do you think 12 years is a short time to create a new technological product? Especially when it comes to dreams that we have worked hard to make sense of since the earliest times…
Interesting Engineering

How does one distinguish a dream from reality? Well for most of us, dreams are something that we see when we sleep and reality refers to life as we know it.

However, a person’s definition and perception of a dream may vary from time to time. Aside from the powerful images generated during sleep, dreams can also be referred to as the grandest ideas that a person may have in their mind. It can also manifest as something that a person aspires to achieve in life.

The reality on the other hand mainly remains to be the life that people have upon waking up. Sometimes, dreams do happen in real life. Think about achieving your goals or maybe the strange feeling of déjà vu.

Regardless of how people perceive dreams and reality, these two concepts are often intertwined and spark interesting conversations about the topic. One example of a sci-fi favorite that features these two concepts is the film Inception. 

The 2010 sci-fi film directed by Christopher Nolan explores the boundaries between dreams and reality with the film focusing on how lucid dreaming works. This dream phenomenon occurs when the person is aware that they are dreaming and may even have control over how their dream would be. 

Sounds cool right? In the film, Somnacin is a chemical that induces lucid dreaming and this can be administered using the PASIV Device.  The Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous Device (PASIV device) allows the chemical to induce lucid dreaming and can be used to connect two or more people in a dream. 

Imagine being with your friends in the same dream and having a good time by controlling the dream according to how you guys like it. It would definitely give people an adventure and experience like no other. 

Even if the film was released in 2010, the things and concepts featured including the PASIV device still remain to be a work of science fiction. A dream machine like the one in the film is still not available in the present day. 

Now, if we are talking about sleep and dream research, the “Dream Team” from MIT’s media lab has Dormio. It's not exactly the same as the PASIV device, but this product works to unlock new paths for human creativity by accessing information from semi-lucid sleep states. 

Although dream sharing or controlling dreams might sound fun, the film itself also shows how it could have negative impacts. With that said, maybe it's best that we still don’t have it now and that it should be carefully studied if ever a PASIV device would be available in the future.