Can devices facilitate a hypnotic induction?

Historically, many devices were believed to have the ability to facilitate a hypnotic induction, but in time such devices proved to have no inherent facilitating properties other than a general placebo effect. To test the efficacy of a device called a "plasma ball" that may facilitate an induction by combining two sensory modalities simultaneously (visual and auditory), 42 college students who scored 6 and below on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A) and completed a scale rating the realness of items, were selected for a second session. Participants were matched on hypnotizability scores and randomly assigned to experimental or standard eye fixation induction control condition. Although hypnotizability scores and realness ratings increased significantly from the initial session, use of the device did not produce higher hypnotizability scores or realness ratings in the experimental compared with the control condition. Results indicate that there is still no evidence that one fixation device works better as a target than any other.