After just doing a 30-minute dose of “Alcohol” with no effects (save for the headache that ensued from listening to the buzzing), she decided to do “Peyote” while another tried Opium.' Another session of dosing ensued, with noises straight out of E.T.

“Which should I do next? Acid or peyote?” asks one intern. The buzz stopped shortly after, leaving us with a headache and the need for a nap but no feelings of drunkeness. During the last ten minutes, the static slowly faded out and eventually stopped. Our brains felt like they were vibrating as the sound continues for the next 20 minutes. Five minutes later another sound, a high pitched buzzing, like a television makes when the cable goes out, joined in. Heavy static came blasting through the headphones. We sat in a dark office laying back in a desk chair with headphones on loud, prepared for the 35-minute “trip” we were about to embark on. Naturally, we chose to go for the alcohol. Upon downloading the I-Doser media player, we were presented with two free doses: Alcohol and Contentment. Back in the Relix office, we interns decided to test out the trip. The ideal I-Doser experience, according to the website, requires that the participant lie down in a dimly lit room, with no interruptions and use high-quality headphones. However, it has many parents and school systems up in arms about their kids getting “high” and many claim that I-Doser will eventually lead to real drugs. In theory, I-Doser provides the participant with a safe, legal way to get high. They claim that, through scientific studies, they can replicate the effects of drugs like acid, peyote, opium and marijuana and feelings of ecstasy, orgasms and relaxation. I-Doser has taken this effect a step further. Binaural beats have reportedly been able to influence the brain in subtle ways, such as reducing anxiety and controlling pain.

When the sounds are listened to with headphones, the ears hear different frequencies, which the brain reads as another low-frequency beat. The “digital drugs” are binaural beats, an effect of sound frequencies on the brain that was discovered in 1839. It sells tracks named after different drugs that, when listened to with headphones, supposedly give the listener a reaction similar to that of the drug it is named for.

I-Doser is a website that has many different “drugs” available for purchase. Three willing interns – acting as guinea pigs – lay on the ground with earphones in, hoping for some sort of high that will get them through the workday. It’s noon on Friday at the Relix office and, while many offices have casual Fridays, we here at Relix are dosing.

I doser doses