Dreamcatcher

Inspiration

Dreams are a heightened sensory state where the brain realistically simulates sensory inputs, and especially distressing or frightening come in the form of nightmares. Nightmares are a universal experience, but having frequent nightmares is a serious problem that can impact quality of life, disrupt sleep, and worsen mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Weekly nightmares can occur amongst adults, but children experience them more commonly, with 20% of children experiencing frequent nightmares. With this in mind, we wanted to imagine what it would look like to literally capture and remove a user’s nightmares from their dream. We ran with the idea, applying research-backed nightmare therapies and human-centered design principles to bring this concept to life.

What it does

Dreamcatcher is a tool that uses wearable dream-protection technology and a gamified app with research-backed nightmare-therapy methods to help children with frequent nightmares improve their mental well-being and protect against nightmares during, after, and right before sleep.

Detect: The Dreamcatcher wearable button monitors the user's neurological activity while they sleep to detect any nightmares.

Capture: Dreamcatcher will catch any nightmare that the user experiences, removing it from their dream and trapping it within the mobile app so that they can dream more peacefully.

Rewrite: After waking up, users can view all of their previously captured nightmares within the app. They are provided an overview and summary of the nightmare, with a description the scenario that the user experienced during the nightmare. Users can then select a previous nightmare and rewrite its story; this feature incorporates Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT), a known form of nightmare therapy that involves writing down, rewriting, and rehearsing a nightmare to lessen its negative impacts. With Dreamcatcher, users can select and replace any words from a previous nightmare description to make the story less scary, transforming the hostile nightmare entity into a friendly force for good.

Protect: Dreamcatcher embeds the Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) method of rehearsal by encouraging users to create and listen to a retelling of the friendly nightmare story, and the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) method of employing calming before-bed activities such as journaling and playing soothing background music. By rewriting the nightmare story, the nightmare is reframed as a harmless dream. Continuous application of these therapy methods over time will improve users’ quality of sleep and prevent more frequent distressing nightmares from occurring.

How we built it

Dreamcatcher was designed, prototyped, and iterated using Figma and Figma Make. The 3D model for the wearable device was developed in Blender, while the companion app was built through Figma Design.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges during this competition was designing for our primary user group of children ages 5 and above. We went through many iterations to ensure that we were crafting an experience that was safe and enjoyable for kids. This required intentional care and caution when it came to determining the tone, language, information overload, visual style, and safeguards in our designs.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re so proud that we were able to design an incredible product in such a short period of time. FigBuild 2026 gave us the opportunity to really flex our creative muscles and push the limits of what we could create, and we were able to leverage existing therapies grounded in research and craft an imaginative solution for children that was both safe and enjoyable. Building something meaningful in only four days isn't easy, but the way our team collaborated made it feel like we weren’t designing because we had to, but because we genuinely wanted to.

What we learned

Through this experience, we gained many valuable skills by working together. We improved our ability to communicate effectively, delegate tasks, meet deadlines, and rely on one another to complete the project successfully. We also explored innovative ideas without being limited by feasibility, which helped us think more creatively and craft the best solution. In terms of tools, we learned how to utilize Figma Make to brainstorm layout ideas and discovered how Figma can be useful for incorporating elements like music, personal drawings, and animations.

What's next for Dreamcatcher

Our team accomplished so much during this competition, but there's so much we want to iterate and improve upon for Dreamcatcher. Some additions we'd like implement include: additional parental controls and safe guards for users to ensure that their user experience is safe, a way to flag and revise false positives in case the interpretation of a nightmare is incorrect, and testing the wearable with real users to validate our design decisions.

Slides: link

Prototype: link

Built With

• figma
• figma-make