VR video game-induced psi communication with red and green ganzfeld: A proof-of-principle study

In this proof-of-principle study, we intended to employ the ganzfeld psi method with two novel features. (1) We used a set of four different interactive video games randomly selected for each trial to be played in a virtual reality (VR) setting by the sender, while the receiver was wearing goggles producing either (2) a red or green ganzfeld, randomly selected. N = 48 young couples in a romantic relationship were recruited as sender-receiver pairs, resulting in 48 trials. Regarding the main confirmatory hypothesis, across all trials the experiment registered 15 hits out of 48 attempts, where the chance level lies at 12. According to a binominal test, the probability of having exactly, or more than, 15 hits (K) out of 48 trials (n) is p = .199. The receivers’ hit rates in the green as compared to the red ganzfeld were not significantly different (χ² = .814; p = .367). Assessed experiential state variables for the video game and the ganzfeld sessions as well as the measured trait variable absorption did not affect the hit rate. An analysis of participants’ responses revealed that independent of the hit rate the four games were identified as targets a strongly unequal number of times. The design of potential future studies is discussed.