Scientists warn of commercial advertising technology that can penetrate dreams

A team of scientists has warned that a new marketing technique that aims to "hack" consumers' dreams will be available within a few years.

In an article carried by the Monte Carlo International website, published in Eon magazine, scientists from the University of Montreal described what they considered a violation of dreams in an attempt to raise awareness of the dangers of targeting ads.

It seems that marketers are planning to push their profit ambitions as far as possible through “dream hacking” as a recent survey showed that 77% of marketing professionals actually plan to insert ads into dreams over the course of the year within the next three years.

"Multiple marketing studies are openly testing new ways to modify and motivate purchasing behavior by penetrating sleep and dreams," the scientists explained.

"The commercial and profitable use of dreams by providing stimuli before or during sleep to influence dream content is rapidly becoming a reality," they said.

Among the study's authors are two scientists who have developed a device designed to communicate with sleeping people and "hack" their dreams, so they know the process is possible.

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