Hollywood's Most Secretive Religious Relic: E-Meter Testing

VICE editor-in-chief Rocco Castoro heads out to Union Square to give strangers E-meter readings, determining their spiritual and moral fiber.



The Hubbard Electrometer, more commonly known as the E-meter, is a "religious artifact" used to measure the state of electrical characteristics in the static field surrounding the body. E-meters operate in a similar fashion to lie detectors, relying on a type of electrical circuit called a wheatstone bridge, which measures the subject's galvanic skin response. In short, the device produces a small electrical current, and measures the subject's electrical resistance to that current. Auditors use the device to measure answers to various questions that can supposedly determine whether or not a person is spiritually pure. Basically, it's what it sounds like: a bunch of bullshit. And we made this video to prove it.