Paranormal Technology April 20th 2012 10pm eastern

We are starting the Para-Apps series off with possibly the hottest paranormal related app on the market. Ghost Radar creator Jack Jones will be joining us as we take a look at the makings of his smartphone app and maybe find out what is coming next from Spud Pickles.

You can visit Jack’s (Spud Pickles) website at www.spudpickles.com.

Ghost Radar Description:

Ghost Radar is a portable application designed to detect paranormal activity. Currently supported portable devices include the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Phone 7 devices. Ghost Radar attempts to detect paranormal activity by using various sensors on the device on which it is running. Like traditional paranormal detecting equipment, Ghost Radar has many sensors available to it on mobile devices. However, traditional paranormal equipment can be easily fooled when simple mundane bursts of normal energy occur. Ghost Radar sets itself apart by analyzing the readings from sensors giving indications only when interesting patterns in the readings have been made.

Ghost Radar employs a proprietary algorithm to analyze the quantum flux. This application does NOT detect EMF nor gravity. Readings for various sensors are analyzed to detect QUANTUM Fluctuations. Interpretations of the sensor readings are displayed graphically as blips on the radar along with numeric and textual readouts on the VOX. Use your Ghost Radar to hunt for odd changes in the flux. Hunters of all types may find anomalous areas of their environment where readings simply can’t be explained. You be the judge. Are the results of your hunting evidence of paranormal activity?

The theory of what is happening is that intelligent energy can be made aware of their ability to influence the sensors of the mobile device. The various readouts are an interpretation of certain readings from the sensors. An intelligent energy should be able to influence the readouts and communicate with you. What those readings mean and how you interpret them is up for debate.

How does Ghost Radar work?
Modern mobile devices are amazing devices filled with sensors and transceivers. To name a few, there is a WiFi transceiver, a touch sensor, an acceleromete, a phone transceiver, a microphone, and a magnetometer. As you can see there are plenty of ways for paranormal activity to interact with the device, the trick is to interpret the readings from these sensors and receivers and present them in a way to help track the paranormal activity.

The majority of equipment used to hunt for paranormal activity was not originally designed to hunt ghosts and do not find the majority of their use in the paranormal. For example EMF detectors and KII meters were designed for electrical work and are used predominantly in that field, not the paranormal. Also, IR cameras were originally developed during the Korean War for the military to find enemies in the dark. These days IR cameras are mostly used by firefighters, astronomy, police, etc. Even though these devices were not originally designed for the field of paranormal they do seem to be the most effective tools in the hunt for the unknown.

Ghost Radar enables your mobile device to be used for the paranormal even though the device was not originally designed for the paranormal, just like the EMF detector, KII meter, and IR camera. The readings that Ghost Radar presents are open to your interpretation and up for debate.

Ghost Radar uses a variety of readings from the sensors on the iPhone and iPod touch to measure anomalous changes in the Quantum Flux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_fluctuation). A large portion of the flux readings come from the background anomalies of the accelerometer. These sensor readings come in constantly and have only very minor changes. Ghost Radar tracks these readings and analyzes them; watching for strange behavior. Based on a multitude of different readings and historical trends Ghost Radar uses its proprietary algorithm to present various visual and audible representations of the readings.

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[easyreview title="Don's Review" cat1title="Performance" cat1detail="Information collected was to random and did not collate with what was going on around me." cat1rating="1" cat2title="Design" cat2detail="The app runs on your phone and less equipment is better." cat2rating="4" cat3title="Features" cat3detail="If they had shown me anything I would have been happy." cat3rating="1" cat4title="Compatibility" cat4detail="It works on Android and Iphone." cat4rating="2" cat5title="Price" cat5detail="Free is definitely priced right." cat5rating="5" summary="Not a serious investigation tool but with advances in the future might be handy."]

[easyreview title="Chuck's Review" cat1title="Performance" cat1detail="An attractive app the information is random at best but everything works." cat1rating="3" cat2title="Design" cat2detail="Easy to use, attractive, and since it's on your cell it's handy." cat2rating="4" cat3title="Features" cat3detail="Limited features that have no real value to investigators." cat3rating="2" cat4title="Compatibility" cat4detail="It operates on nearly any mobile operating system." cat4rating="2" cat5title="Price" cat5detail="At .99 it's worth playing with." cat5rating="5" summary="The Ghost Radar is a cool to play with so have fun."]

Although Ghost Radar is a fun and good looking app that is inexpensive on nearly any mobile platform it lacks the ability to provide what we would call real data. Since the information being provided is so random Don and I feel that the app is not designed for serious evidence collection. Due to the fact the signal from cell phones usual affect other tools we use, cell phones are usually turned off during investigations.