Until relatively recently, the out-of-body experience was commonly perceived as a type of spiritual initiation or a variety of mystical belief. More recently, a number of studies have begun to go some way to objective confirmation of the reality of the projective experience

Research in the past
The first documented research into projective phenomena surviving today began with individual figures such as Emanuel Swedenbörg, the Swedish philosopher and French writer Honoré de Balzac. Their documentation of their experiences and ideas marked the beginning of a more open acknowledgement and discussion of the subject

Since that time, a deal of research has been conducted based both on more traditional, empirical scientific approach and simpler surveys. A fascinating development in the field of projective and generally within consciousness research is the advancement of a more comprehensive model for scientific investigation by leading researchers in the field

This new approach replaces the existing object/subject model, accepting as valid research in which the object of research may be the researcher himself and the subject of the research; such an approach by-passes the limitations of the old Newtonian/Cartesian paradigm to include a vast area of real human experience previously excluded and ignored by science

In simple terms, this means that if 100 people experience an out-of-body experience and each lists the 20 most prominent elements of his or her experience, the 5 most frequently reported elements may be accepted as representing a consensual representation of reality, or, the best information available to date

Thus this approach also includes in a practical sense the reality that no permanence exists for scientific concepts or laws, regardless of how rigid they may appear in certain situations or contexts

Modern and ongoing research
Recent research includes the Projective Field an ongoing group experiment conducted by the International Academy of Consciousness [ see 'Courses' page for more about the IAC ] designed to facilitate projective experiences and record the availability of information obtained by participants whilst out of the body. The experiment takes the form of an immersive workshop/laboratory in which upwards of 60 participants are instructed in techniques known to promote projective experiences whilst physically inside an energetically optimised environment. The participants are invited to visit a sealed room elsewhere in the same building to identify and image that has been randomly generated by a computer. Participants attempt to perceive the image and return to the body recall the experience and note it. None of the participants nor the researchers conducting the experiment are privy to the image image has been selected by the computer program, thus avoiding any type of telepathy. Initial results from the first series of such experiments suggested that 7% of the participants were able to perceive and describe the image. The results also suggested that shapes of objects are most easily perceived when outside the body, followed by colour

Numerous surveys that have been conducted by various organisation around the world suggest that 1.2% of the population experience conscious or lucid OBEs. A global survey analyzing 98 different aspects of the OBE was launched via the Internet in 1999