I recently downloaded a "ghost detector" application for my Android phone. I had previously heard of these apps and didn't really think much of them but I downloaded one of the many free ones out of curiosity. After looking into how they work and playing with this one for a little while I've decided that it's probably not a reliable tool for paranormal investigation but it is something to get you thinking and hopefully doing.
The particular app that I downloaded has three features. One is a "ghost radar" that uses an algorithm to process faint sensory data and then tells you where spirits may be around you on a classic radar screen, the ghosts represented as white dots. I've noticed that this feature seems to really love background noise and that seems to be the main way it establishes where spirits may be from my observations. I can't say for certain that it doesn't detect ghosts, just that it seems like it would give a lot of false positives.
This app also has an EMF detector. It utilizes the phone's built-in magnetometer to detect fluctuations in the electromagnetic field around the phone. This functions as a basic metal detector as well as a gauge of EMF levels (and indeed metal detector apps also detect changes in EMF). This may be the coolest part of the whole app in my opinion but I found the readout to be really basic. It will only tell you on an arbitrary scale of one to ten how high the activity is. I much prefer a metal detector app I have that gives you the readout in microteslas with a graph of activity over time. That said, the ghost detector app got me interested in experimenting with EMF and paranormal phenomena.
The third and final feature the app offers is an "EVP" mode which appears to show you random words based on some mysterious algorithm. I think it's supposed to function like a K2 meter but I'm not sure. I'm thinking that it just processes subtle auditory data and then churns out something but I don't really know. I've not played around with this feature very much.
All of this from an app that didn't cost me a thing. Keeping this in mind I would encourage anyone interested to try one of these free ghost detecting apps out if they have the interest. Aside from the novelty factor it's got me wondering about what would happen if an EMF detector was set up during an evocation, or the "ghost radar" for that matter. I also wonder if the EMF detector could be influenced by psychic phenomena such as psychokinesis or could be used to test the claims of SLIders. I mostly just want to see if there really is any correlation between EMF disturbances and the paranormal.
Feel free to comment about your own experiences with these types of apps and how you feel about them in general. I'm thinking that some of the apps that cost money probably have more features of better quality but the free ones are all I'm willing to work with at the moment. Happy hunting!
I downloaded Ghost detector on my Droid last night and it has me baffled at this point. Specifically the EMF detector. Keep in mind that I'm an electrical contractor and own a real emf detector as they're sometimes useful in troubleshooting. What interesting is this meter stays pretty level at 2 throughout my home with the exception of two places. I get a consistent 4 in one specific spot on the edge of my bed but I have an old maple table that reads 7-10. In a very small area on the table that moves around. I've moved the table across the room with no change. Initial readings were last night but it behaves exactly the same this morning. My real EMF meter shows nothing in either location. Now would someone please explain this to me?
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the various EMF/metal detecting/compass apps you can get for phones rely on the phone's magnetometer. I'm not a physicist or an engineer, but it would seem to me that something in those locations is disturbing the phones magnetometer. Maybe the desk being wood (and an insulator) causes some kind of disturbance with the magnetometer? Maybe there's something under the bed or floor that causes a reaction at the edge of the bed?
ReplyDeleteI've had my phone's magnetometer do weird things before, including trip a laptop's sleep sensor when I was playing with an EMF detecting app. It seems to me that the instruments aren't that reliable for specific tasks since they were probably designed for a multitude of applications.
In short, I don't know. These are some ideas though. Maybe try comparing your phone's EMF with your actual EMF meter when reading something you know will give a reading and compare the results.