Innovative gadgets and accessories designed to maximize people’s non-waking hours give those who burn the midnight oil new ways to feel rested despite limited slumber time. More recently, though, sleep technology has extended to encompass a new type of shut-eye product: the dream control app. These dream weavers purport to get sleepers through the night in ways never before thought possible.

Yumemiru: The Yumemiru (translation: “see the dream”) iPhone app puts people in the proverbial director’s chair when it comes to their dreams. Before going to sleep, users can essentially script the images they’d like to see while sleeping, from among eight different fantasy scenarios (including, ‘flying in the sky’, ‘romance’, and ‘becoming rich’) designed to stimulate the astral plane. Users run the app in their phone’s background, where it plays sounds programmed to trigger the specified illusion. Of course, the app’s roots lie in advertising—it was created by Japanese agency Hakuhodo’s Future Technology Works department—so don’t be surprised if you awaken yearning to buy something random.

Thanks to the ubiquity of free Wi-Fi service, the freelance set is already well-accustomed with the concept of the multipurpose coffee shop. Lately, however, cafés around the globe are introducing other ancillary services that go beyond mere caffeination and office amenities. From design studio facilities to nutrition counseling, no longer is the café just coffee.

Café Therapy: Prague, long beloved by architecture buffs for being a living textbook of iconic styles through the centuries, has always enjoyed a reputation as a city well-suited to those who appreciate creativity. Now, a small eatery called Café Therapy is translating the city’s aesthetically-inclined sensibility into a humanitarian effort by offering in-house art therapy classes, including candle-making and ceramics. A partnership with a local aftercare center, the program was created as a way to provide recovering addicts with a safe and calming space in which to socialize. All crafts made in the program are used in the café—customers who like them enough have the option to purchase.

Smartphones and tablets can be found in the hands of most people these days, a phenomenon that is likely to become increasingly widespread as more affordable mobile devices like the Kindle Fire enter the marketplace. Accompanying this shift in technology consumption is an ever growing demand for free Wi-Fi, which several new services are seeking to meet in unexpected ways.

Wi-Fi Vending Machine: In recent years, vending machines have expanded their offerings from basic candy and chips to products as luxurious as gold and caviar. Japan, which is well ahead of the curve when it comes to automated retail, has pushed the boundaries even further, as drink manufacturer Asahi Beverages has introduced soda machines that offer free Wi-Fi to anyone within a 50 meter radius. In addition to providing web browsing capabilities, the hosted home page will show geo-specific dining, shopping and tourist information. Users can connect for up to 30 minutes before having to reconnect—which should be just enough time for them to get thirsty.

Forget Goth Lolitas—the latest Tokyo subculture has young women literally heading to the hills. Called Yama Girls, this new group prefers hiking boots to heels, backpacks to parasols, and weekends spent in the mountains rather than on the streets of Harajuku. With dedicated clothing lines, festivals and magazines, a bona fide lifestyle has been born out of what began as a mere fashion statement.

Hiking Skirts: There’s no strict dress code for Yama Girls, yet there are certain pieces that define their look. Navajo-print leggings, tie-dye T-shirts, and oversized sun hats all feature prominently. But the centerpiece is the “hiking skirt,” considered both feminine and functional (it makes everything from going to the bathroom to changing into fresh clothing a bit easier). Brands have been quick to catch on. Blogger Yuri Yosumi, the unofficial founder of the Yama Girl movement, has designed hiking skirts for a few outdoor labels. Recently, she teamed up with Aigle, creating both a collection and a website where readers can both follow her blog and buy her favorite pieces.

Green space in urban environments is nothing new, but changes are underfoot—and we’re not just talking about New York City’s new outdoor smoking ban. Rather, natural settings are co-mingling with shopping in ways that redefine the realms of both relaxation and retail.

Airport Park: Travelers flying out of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport can now enjoy more than just Rijksmuseum’s annex. Opened last month, Airport Park employs “mixed reality technology” to transport visitors to their favorite natural spots, combining an 130-year-old tree and wooden picnic benches with projections of butterflies, images of world-famous parks, and a soundtrack of chirping birds and playing children. The terrace also features the Park Café, with fair trade coffee and organic hamburgers, and kiosks for last-minute souvenir shopping. As for the bikes stationed throughout the park, they’re actually sustainable chargers that, after a bit of pedaling, will power up cell phones.