Latest news with #Modem
Fast Company
28-07-2025
- Fast Company
This AI gadget turns your dreams into mini movies
An intense dream can leave you in sweats and existential wonder. But just moments later, it evaporates from your mind to never be experienced again. The fleeting nature of dreams is why many keep a dream journal by their bedside to jot down the story before it disappears. The design studio Modem imagined another, more modern recording device. Called the Dream Recorder, it's something like a bedside clock radio that uses AI to log your dreams and play them back to you. When you wake up in the morning, you pick up the recorder and dictate what you remember of your dream. That ensuing transcript is sent to an AI video generator in the cloud, which creates a short video of it. What's important to Modem is the ritual, done without an app or phone, is performed with an object dedicated to you—a sort of generated visual diary of dreams. 'The thing that happens in your head isn't going to be magically recreated by this video generator,' says project contributor Mark Hinch. 'But it will hopefully capture the essence of the perhaps bizarre, weird, fragmented ideas of what happened in your head in the story.' The dreams themselves are rendered through an intentionally ethereal aesthetic, at a low fi 240-by-240-pixel resolution that's meant to mirror the way we remember a dream, but also sidestep too much literality when things naturally don't match up. For instance, it blurs faces so that you never see someone who doesn't match up with what you remember. And rather than saving every dream you ever have forever, the Dream Recorder has been designed to flush its memory much like you do—holding onto dreams for a week at most before overwriting them with whatever you dream up next. Instead of selling the device, Modem shares the code on Github, along with all the items you need to buy to build it, ranging from a Raspberry Pi processor to USB microphones and capacitive touch sensors, via Amazon links. The body can be printed via an online service like Shapeways, and it all connects together without soldering. (Dreams cost between about a penny and 14 cents apiece, depending on the AI service you connect to render them.) But the Dream Recorder is admittedly less interesting as another product with features to be scrutinized than it is as a greater idea, and model of experimentation that's been lacking in the race toward AGI or building the next unicorn. With so much of the AI conversation focused on companions, productivity tools, or generative whatever, it's easy to block out the more transcendental possibilities like being able to literally speak to whales. Modem cut through the productization of AI with a new dose of wonder. The Dream Recorder is fascinating not just for what it literally does, but as a rare, tangible beacon for a future that feels just within our grasp. (Dream recording inherently seems feasible within our electrical brain patterns and new AI capabilities—so much so that Samsung filed a patent around a UI to control your dreams.) And much like a good sci-fi novel, it offers us an anchor to discuss and debate what it all means until a world of inventors actually leads us there. 'We hope to inspire the new generation coming of age in the age of intelligence . . . showing them that there's a more mindful alternative to the very distracted world,' says Bas van de Poel, cofounder of Modem. 'Perhaps using the engines of wisdom and mindfulness, and combining them with the logic of computer science, will be sort of like the ultimate dream,' he says.
New York Post
22-07-2025
- New York Post
AI device can ‘translate' your dreams and play them back for you
Your wildest dreams can become virtual reality — if you can remember them. Dutch design studio Modem has introduced its latest project, Dream Recorder. Aptly named, the device allows users to see visual interpretations of their own dreams by harnessing the latest in technology — a video AI model that translates phrases into pictures. Advertisement Sentimental sleepers looking to enshrine their dreams in one of the device's seven memory slots only need to hit the record button and describe their dream aloud. From there, the Dream Recorder will display a brief low-definition, impressionistic-style visualization of the memory narrated, meant to evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort. 'Dreaming is one of the rare experiences shared by all people. Everyone dreams, which makes it powerful territory to explore. The fascination has always been there,' Modem co-founder Bas van de Poel told Newsweek. 'What's changed is the technology,' he continued. Advertisement 'For the first time, we have tools capable of giving shape to the subconscious, turning the invisible into something we can see, and maybe even begin to understand.' Smartwatches, sensors and apps are aplenty in today's wellness-oriented world, but van de Poel said that 'those tools stop at documentation,' while the Dream Recorder 'doesn't just log your dreams; it translates them.' That translation comes with a catch, though. You can't just buy the Dream Recorder — you have to build it yourself. Advertisement The Dutch company's device is DIY by design, meaning all of the code is open-source, the enclosure is 3D printed and the shopping list — which runs prospective purchasers around $333 — is readily available online on the company's GitHub page. Savvy programmers are also invited to contribute their own thoughts, code or AI insight to the project's lead developers. Modem even includes step-by-step instructions accompanied by photos for relatively easy assembly. Modem Advertisement While the device is a unique product of contemporary technology, its creators also had a vision for it to provide a sense of peace not often found in the digital age. 'It's not designed for endless accumulation, but for reflecting on the meanings of your dreams as they echo into waking life,' van de Poel said, explaining the device's limited memory slots, which are capped at 7 days. 'No distractions, no feeds; just a quiet moment to reflect and reconnect with your subconscious,' he concluded. Though only 11% of Americans reportedly always remember their dreams, new sleep research occurs constantly. One such study, published early 2025 in the journal Communications Psychology, showed that some specific types of people are more likely to recall their dreams. The 3D printed device is small, lightweight and designed to sit on your bedside table — and also has a clock function. MODEM Those who maintain positive outlooks about dreaming, are prone to daydreaming, spend longer in light sleep stages, live in warmer weather, and are younger, are all typically able to remember concrete details from their dreams, according to the study. Lead study authors also said that dreams can offer insight into mental health, psychological conditions and hopefully, future studies of human consciousness.
Newsweek
22-07-2025
- Newsweek
You Can Now Build 'Portal to Your Subconscious' To Turn Dreams Into Videos
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Ever wish you could play back your dreams before your eyes when you wake up in the morning? One design studio has introduced a "magical bedside device"—known as the Dream Recorder—that you can build yourself to translate your dreams into a visual art form. The Dream Recorder is "a portal to your subconscious" that captures your elusive dreams and "plays them back as vivid, cinematic reels," according to its website. Bas van de Poel is the co-founder of Modem, the Dutch design studio behind the Dream Recorder device. Modem has worked with clients including OpenAI and Google Deepmind. The studio has also done research papers with institutions such as the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and UC Berkeley in California. Asked what inspired the creation of the Dream Recorder, van de Poel told Newsweek: "Dreaming is one of the rare experiences shared by all people. Everyone dreams, which makes it powerful territory to explore. The fascination has always been there." However, "what's changed is the technology," van de Poel said. "For the first time, we have tools capable of giving shape to the subconscious, turning the invisible into something we can see, and maybe even begin to understand." A person holds the Dream Recorder device. A person holds the Dream Recorder device. Modem Understanding your dreams could be useful due to the effect that they could potentially have on your subsequent daytime behavior and performance, said an August 2024 study in Consciousness and Cognition. The study added: "Since waking life has a noticeable effect on the content of dreams, some researchers have supposed that this dream content may have some reciprocal effect on subsequent waking life, in parallel to or as part of memory consolidation." However, "it must be remembered that the true function of dreams is still unknown, and there is not enough evidence to confirm with confidence what function dreams may serve, if they indeed serve any function at all," the study added. The co-founder of Modem said that, while there are sleep trackers and plenty of apps that allow you to type out your dreams, "those tools stop at documentation." Van de Poel added that the Dream Recorder is different because "it doesn't just log your dreams; it translates them." To use the device, you just need to press the record button on it and describe your dream aloud in your preferred language, which is then transformed into a short-form reel, rendered in a preselected visual style. The back of the Dream Recorder device is seen. The back of the Dream Recorder device is seen. Modem The device "transcribes your words and passes them through a video AI model, translating your dream into ultra-low-definition, impressionistic dreamscapes," van de Poel said. Your rendered dream is played back on the device's screen. The recorder is "built on existing video-generation models and can be updated to support any service that provides API access," the Modem co-founder added. "This is paired with on-device post-processing using FFmpeg [software], which gives the generated dreams a nostalgic, analogue feel." Designed with a DIY spirit, the co-founder said: "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 and gather the off-the-shelf components, and assemble it yourself. No soldering is required." The device has space to store seven dreams at a time, essentially seven slots for a week of dreaming. "It's not designed for endless accumulation, but for reflecting on the meanings of your dreams as they echo into waking life," van de Poel said. "We chose a bedside device form factor because it's intuitive and familiar, offering a more intentional way to begin the day," he added. "As soon as you wake up, you simply touch the device, speak your dream aloud, and watch it take shape as a dreamscape. No distractions, no feeds; just a quiet moment to reflect and reconnect with your subconscious." Do you have a technology-related story to share? Let us know via life@ and your story could be featured on Newsweek.
Business Wire
19-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Airgain Launches Industry's First Commercially Available Cat 1 bis Embedded Modem Certified for Customer End-Applications
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Airgain, Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRG), a leading provider of wireless connectivity solutions, today announced the launch of the NimbeLink Skywire™ Cat 1 bis Embedded Modem, the industry's first plug-and-play Cat 1 bis modem for end-application use in industrial IoT. Designed to streamline cellular integration for a wide range of applications, this new modem marks a major leap forward in simplifying and accelerating IoT deployments across industrial, healthcare, logistics, and smart city environments. Airgain's Skywire™ Cat 1 bis embedded modem is certified for customer end-applications—enabling faster, lower-cost IoT deployments with global carrier support. Share Built on next-generation Cat 1 bis technology, the Skywire Cat 1 bis modem delivers the optimal balance of performance, power efficiency, and cost—particularly ideal for IoT devices that require moderate data rates, global network coverage, and long-term deployment. Unlike traditional cellular modules, which require time-consuming and costly certification, Airgain's modem comes pre-certified as an end device, enabling customers to bypass most regulatory bottlenecks and bring solutions to market up to 80% faster. 'The launch of our Cat 1 bis modem represents a meaningful step forward in simplifying cellular connectivity for IoT,' said Joe Porrazzo, Senior Director of Product at Airgain. 'By combining end-device certification, plug-and-play integration, and global carrier support in a compact form factor, we're helping customers reduce complexity, speed up development cycles, and deploy with rapid time-to-market.' To help developers and product teams navigate the evolving landscape of low-power cellular technologies, Airgain is hosting a free webinar: 'Choosing the Right Cellular LTE Modem Technology for Your IoT Application'. Join our experts as we break down Cat 1, Cat 1 bis, Cat M, and other key options to help you make the right decision for your next design. [Register here] to reserve your spot. Why Cat 1 bis? As LTE networks evolve and older 2G/3G technologies sunset, Cat 1 bis has emerged as the new baseline for reliable, globally compatible IoT connectivity. Offering single-antenna design (lower BOM cost), extended coverage in hard-to-reach areas, and improved power efficiency, Cat 1 bis is ideally suited for smart meters, asset trackers, sensors, gateways, and remote monitoring systems. Best of all, Airgain's Cat 1 bis modem delivers Cat 1-class performance at nearly the same price point as Cat M modules—making it an ideal upgrade path for developers looking to reduce costs without sacrificing speed or reliability. Product Highlights: Certified for End-Device Applications: Pre-certified on select global networks to eliminate most regulatory certification hurdles Plug-and-Play: Standard Skywire 20-pin footprint enables drop-in replacement for existing designs Cost-Optimized: MSRP 20–30% lower than previous Cat 1 solutions Global Carrier Support: Available in North American (TC1bisNAG) and Worldwide (QC1bisWWG) versions Compact and Durable: Industrial-grade form factor (29 x 33.9 x 10.8 mm) optimized for space-constrained applications Future-Proof: Built on the latest Telit and Quectel Cat 1 bis cellular modules The Skywire Cat 1 bis modem is available now for evaluation, with immediate commercial availability. Customers can access development kits, reference designs, and migration guides to enable a seamless integration process. The Cat 1 bis modem is available through Airgain's authorized distribution partners, including DigiKey, Braemac, Mouser, GetWireless, Arrow, and Richardson. To learn more, visit NimbeLink Skywire Cat 1 bis Embedded Modem on Note: Carrier certification may vary by region and application. Customers should verify compatibility with specific mobile network operators as part of their deployment process. About Airgain, Inc. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Airgain, Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRG) is a leading provider of advanced wireless connectivity solutions that drive cutting-edge innovation in 5G technology. We are committed to delivering high-performance, cost-effective, and energy-efficient wireless solutions that enable rapid market deployment. Our mission is to connect the world through integrated, innovative, and optimized wireless solutions. Our diverse product portfolio serves three primary markets: enterprise, automotive, and consumer. For more information, visit or follow us on LinkedIn and X. Airgain, AirgainConnect, and the Airgain logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Airgain, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owner. FirstNet, FirstNet Trusted™ and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks and service marks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
