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The Buttocks Have It

Posted by michael on from the hot-seat dept.

An anonymous reader writes "From this ZDNET article: Future hijackers may find that their buttocks betray them, if UK defense firm Qinetiq has its way. The company has developed a smart chair stashed with a thicket of seat sensors, according to New Scientist magazine this week. The same seats could also be used to warn cabin staff of illness among the passengers, potentially alleviating the risk of deep vein thrombosis or DVT."

2 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Why don't baptists hack standing up? by stanwirth · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...because people might think they're dancing.

  2. What if it works? by __aadhrk6380 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    So what happens if they catch someone whose body language triggers the sensors, and then find he has something on him that could be used to hijack a plane? The airline and the US Government would be liable for damages to him.

    By the time the US legal system got done with him, it would be proven that his civil rights were violated, he carried a weapon for protection from religious persecution, and that the use of the seat was unconstitutional search and seizure.

    How about if the same passenger died of DVT sitting in one of those seats (with no weapons, of course)? Then that same airline would be sued for not detecting it and not preventing his death.

    Which side of that coin (if either) is good for anyone other than the lawyers and plaintants?

    Man, I am getting cynical!