User:Golgofrinchian/Ovilus

Overview
The Ovilus, or Puck, is a electronic device created by Bill Chappell. Chappell is a retired electronics engineer that has an interest in the paranormal and creates devices for the field. The Ovilus is labeled as "For Entertainment Purposes Only". This has not stopped the device from being used by many paranormal groups and has even been shown in use on television show Paranormal State (Season 2 Episode 25 Hells Gate)

The Ovilus has an embedded database of a predefined words. It contains an EMF Meter which supposedly is how the spirits pull the words out of the database.

Claims
It is claimed that the Ovilus allows the user to communicate with spirits. The spirits pull out words from the database and the speaker in the device says the word that the spirit has picked.

Negative Reviews
Due to the random nature of the replies many paranormal research groups have stopped using the Ovilus because it is left too much to chance. It is posited that you could pull random words out of a hat and get the same response as what comes out of the Ovilus. Many liken it to an electronic 8 Ball or Ouija Board.

Positive Reviews
Despite the label that says "For Entertainment Purpose Only", the device is still used today in Paranormal Research. Groups have shown that it has replied with very accurate words relating directly to the case they are investigating. One of the modes of use is a Phonetic mode that allows the spirit to put together words that are not in the database.

Odds
From the makers website the odds of actually getting a response that is related to the question you ask are: 1:2000. There are 2000 words in the database so basically you have a even shot to get a response that fits in a contextually accurate fashion. In Phonetic mode the odds are 1:71.

As an EMF Meter:
The devices does contain several LED lights that correspond to the level of EMF in the room. The manufacturer states that this meter is not an average sampling but a real time sample. This meter should not replace a device that is a dedicated EMF Meter.