The final test for telepathy?
19 Jul 2006 by Evoluted New Media
A collaboration between UK Scientists has for the first time created a system to objectively study telepathic ability
A collaboration between UK Scientists has for the first time created a system to objectively study telepathic ability
The system, which immerses an individual in what looks like a life-size computer game, has been created as part of a joint project between Manchester University's School of Computer Science and School of Psychological Sciences.
Project researcher David Wilde said: “By using this technology we aim to provide the most objective study of telepathy to date. Our aim is not to prove or disprove its existence but to create an experimental method which stands up to scientific scrutiny.”
Approximately 100 participants will take part in the experiment and will enter the virtual environment by donning a head-mounted 3D display and an electronic glove. Once inside participants view a random selection of computer-generated objects.
Each experiment will involve two volunteers placed in separate rooms on different floors of the same building to eliminate any possibility of communication. The person in the first room sees one object at a time, which they are asked to concentrate on and interact with. The person in the other room is simultaneously presented with the same object plus three decoy objects. They are then asked to select the object they believe the other participant is trying to transmit to them.
Dr Toby Howard, who devised the system, said: “This system has been designed to overcome the many pitfalls evident in previous studies which could easily be manipulated by participants to produce an effect which looks like telepathy but is not.”
