The SoulPhone™

I had missed the fact that this device is being peddled from Canada, not the USA - at $3000 a time.

What does it do? It plays "a sound file that is made up of non-discernible voice sounds in looped two-second segments".

I think there are two separate areas here. One is the financial side. If one is paying for the time of another person to act as facilitator during a session, then some sort of fee may be justifiable. The hardware alone is apparently simple, probably costs pennies to provide. But lots of companies charge so as to include R&D in their costs - many everyday items are vastly overpriced for that reason. Though by the time those costs have been recouped, the device is often obsolete.

But leaving aside matters of finance, what is it we are really talking about here? It seems to be a variation of EVP (electronic voice phenomena). What does it entail? A mix of possible serendipity along with an individual's own intuition. In effect a form of guided meditation, where the user supplies the end results, the methodology plays only a supportive role, rather than contributing directly.

Personally I'd just go with meditation, though some sort of guided session (such as one might use for past-life regression) might sometimes be appropriate. I tend to go towards the minimalistic on this, not because my way is the best, but simply because it is my preference.

Nothing much to add to this discussion as I have not been following developments but I did spot this article on my Facebook feed, courtesy of the SPR:

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20181...fter-death

An update from last month:

As of May 2018, Dr. Schwartz has a 99% degree of certainly [sic] that a reliably functioning prototype of the SoulSwitch will be ready in 2018.
https://www.soulproof.com/soulphone-want-call/

The SoulSwitch is supposed to be a device that will enable the dead to give a yes or no answer to a question.

I'm not sure how we missed this, but there is an update, dated 17 December 2018, on the Soulphone Foundation website:
https://www.thesoulphonefoundation.org/u...e-12-17-18

The claim is that in Summer 2018 they did obtain "80-90% replicability" with the SoulSwitch device that enabled Hypothesized Postmaterial Collaborators (i.e. dead people) to answer yes/no questions.

If that meant that the device could produce the correct answers to yes/no questions 80-90% of the time, it would be a remarkable finding, whether or not it involved communication with the dead. But I must confess, after reading the update, I'm not sure whether it does mean that:
At this time, these demonstrations provide “only” the average of ten ‘yes’ and ten ‘no’ answers.  That is, the technology does not yet provide individual answers to specific questions.

If it produces only some kind of average ratings for sets of ten questions, what does "80-90% replicability" mean? I really can't work it out from the description. Apparently there is to be a peer-reviewed paper on this research by Gary Schwartz, but no timescale is mentioned. I  can't see anything about this research on Schwartz's own website.

what the heck should a SoulPhone be? A machine medium? And how would it get messqages from the deceased? i'm highly skeptical about it.

If that meant that the device could produce the correct answers to yes/no questions 80-90% of the time, it would be a remarkable finding, whether or not it involved communication with the dead. But I must confess, after reading the update, I'm not sure whether it does mean that:
At this time, these demonstrations provide “only” the average of ten ‘yes’ and ten ‘no’ answers.  That is, the technology does not yet provide individual answers to specific questions.

If it produces only some kind of average ratings for sets of ten questions, what does "80-90% replicability" mean? I really can't work it out from the description. Apparently there is to be a peer-reviewed paper on this research by Gary Schwartz, but no timescale is mentioned. I  can't see anything about this research on Schwartz's own website.

To speculate, the update spoke of the average of ten "yes" and ten "no" questions, and also spoke of the testing having been done with three "Hypothesized Postmaterial Collaborators." That might add up to six sets of questions, and "success" in five sets out of six could be described as 80-90%. "Success" might perhaps mean average scores of above 5 out of 10 for the "yes" questions, and below 5 out of 10 for the "no" questions. In that case "success" for five or more sets out of six would be like getting five or more heads out of six coin tosses, which would happen by chance about 10% of the time.

That's not bad, but on the other hand if they have been developing this device for several years, trying various modifications and testing it every few months, sooner or later such a "breakthrough" would be bound to happen by chance.

Then again, it does say in connection with the 80-90% figure that the apparatus has been tested "numerous times," which suggests something a bit more impressive. I suppose only time will tell.

If spirits can be duped into “cooperating” trough an electronic device this easily, what’s keeping us from building a trap of sorts to keep them inside? 

what the heck should a SoulPhone be? A machine medium? And how would it get messqages from the deceased? i'm highly skeptical about it.

Well, if you consider “yes” or “no” an actual message... Then yeah, that’s pretty much it.

If spirits can be duped into “cooperating” trough an electronic device this easily, what’s keeping us from building a trap of sorts to keep them inside? 


Well, if you consider “yes” or “no” an actual message... Then yeah, that’s pretty much it.

Basically sounds like a kind of ouija board. Without the letters.

Basically sounds like a kind of ouija board. Without the letters.

What they have now is the "SoulSwitch," which is indeed like a Ouija board without the letters.

But letters come in at the second stage, which is the "SoulKeyboard." Then there will be the "SoulVoice" (audio) and "SoulVideo."

In the update there are even plans to go further:
"Dr. Schwartz is already looking ahead to achieving 3D holographic, live images for visits and assistance from those in another part of forever.  Can you imagine?"

I'm not making any of this up.

What they have now is the "SoulSwitch," which is indeed like a Ouija board without the letters.

But letters come in at the second stage, which is the "SoulKeyboard." Then there will be the "SoulVoice" (audio) and "SoulVideo."

In the update there are even plans to go further:
"Dr. Schwartz is already looking ahead to achieving 3D holographic, live images for visits and assistance from those in another part of forever.  Can you imagine?"

I'm not making any of this up.

“I’m skeptical that you could, yet intrigued that you may.” -Dale Gribble

What they have now is the "SoulSwitch," which is indeed like a Ouija board without the letters.

But letters come in at the second stage, which is the "SoulKeyboard." Then there will be the "SoulVoice" (audio) and "SoulVideo."

In the update there are even plans to go further:
"Dr. Schwartz is already looking ahead to achieving 3D holographic, live images for visits and assistance from those in another part of forever.  Can you imagine?"

I'm not making any of this up.

Well the proof of the pudding I guess....