Canadian researcher Gratiana Chen conducted an experiment in which she stimulated out-of-body experiences in 70 university students using virtual reality. The participants were shown virtual reality videos that created the illusion of leaving the body and floating in the air. At the same time, their EEG data were recorded in both normal and “out-of-body” states.
Predictably, the participants’ subjective accounts resembled classic out-of-body experiences. For example, they described feelings of awe, separation from the body, and floating, noting that everything felt dreamlike. Moreover, the EEG data showed changes in all five frequency bands (especially in alpha oscillations).
The author concluded that virtual reality can induce out-of-body experiences and that could be used, for instance, in the treatment of neurological, psychological, and dissociative disorders. Further, healthy individuals could use virtual reality simply to have a positive experience and feel uplifting emotions.
Do you have any experience with virtual reality? How similar is it to phase states (lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences, etc.)?
The Master’s thesis was published in December 2024 on the website of the University of Western Ontario.
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