Researchers Look for Signs of Telepathy

July 21, 2006 -- -- We've heard the stories of twins who had visions or heard their identical sibling's voice telling them they were in trouble, only to find out it was true. Or the tale of a mother who just "had a feeling" her child was in danger and rushed to help, ariving at the rescue just in time.

Now scientists at Britain's Manchester University are working to prove the existence of this mysterious sense, commonly known as telepathy -- which is the ability to communicate with another person using only the mind -- by testing subjects through a virtual reality system.

"Approximately 100 participants will take part in the experiment, which aims to test whether telepathy exists between individuals using the system," read a press release from the university.

The release goes on to say that researchers from the university's school of computer science and school of psychological sciences will test to see if the ability is enhanced by the relationship between participants.

The move is one in a series of steps taken by various schools, companies and research organizations to explore the brain and how it receives and perceives information.

The virtual reality system the researchers are using drops participants into a computer-generated, 3-D world, kind of like a video game.

Wearing a 3-D head-mounted display -- like a helmet with a built in TV screen -- two volunteers are placed in separate rooms and on different floors so there's no chance of communication.

Inside the virtual world, both participants are shown a random selection of computer-generated objects, such as a telephone, a football and an umbrella.

"The person in the first room sees one object at a time, which they are asked to concentrate on and interact with," said the release.

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."