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Thermal Imaging Lie Detector In Development

Posted by Soulskill on from the he-winked,-get-the-cuffs dept.

beaverdownunder writes with this quote from the BBC: "A sophisticated new camera system can detect lies just by watching our faces as we talk, experts say. The computerized system uses a simple video camera, a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor and a suite of algorithms. ... It successfully discriminates between truth and lies in about two-thirds of cases, said lead researcher Professor Hassan Ugail from Bradford University. ... We give our emotions away in our eye movements, dilated pupils, biting or pressing together our lips, wrinkling our noses, breathing heavily, swallowing, blinking and facial asymmetry. And these are just the visible signs seen by the camera. Even swelling blood vessels around our eyes betray us, and the thermal sensor spots them too."

5 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. sounds like ... by recrudescence · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Tyrell: Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris...
    Deckard: We call it Voight-Kampff for short.

  2. 2/3 is still not good enough. by hedwards · · Score: 4, Interesting

    All this does is change the rules a bit. All of the things they've listed are things which one could train to do or not do on cue. And even without training if it's only good 2/3 of the time that's not good enough to justify deployment.

  3. Practiced lying can defeat lie detectors... by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... all you have to do is memorize and rehearse lies in advance and imagine them and recall them as if they were memories. People get caught in lies because it's cognitively demanding to make it up on the spot unprepared.

    If you don't believe this consider religious faith. Many people I'm sure believe those falsehoods genuinely because they are well ingrained in their imaginations.

    1. Re:Practiced lying can defeat lie detectors... by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      All really good salesmen temporarily believe whatever bullshit they are selling at the time. It's kind of like method acting.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  4. Re:Lie Detectors by Eskarel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I suppose it depends on what questions you ask.

    It would certainly be open for abuse, but so is a pipe wrench. You could use a 100% accurate lie detector to invade someone's privacy for sure, but if you stuck to questions like "Are you planning on killing anyone today?" or "Did you kill that person?" you'd probably be fine. Especially since you wouldn't actually need to have a person in the room if you had a 100% accurate lie detector. You need a person now because interrogation requires instinct, but with a machine that could actually detect truth or lies and the right questions you could put someone in a room, have the machine ask them a preselected list of questions and then let them out if they're fine.

    You couldn't take people out of the equation entirely of course as you'd need them for answering "Why did you kill that person?".

    You'd definitely have to be careful about fishing expeditions, and with a much higher solve rate people would be a lot more careful about what they allowed to become law in the first place, but there's nothing inherently unethical about asking someone if they committed or are planning on committing a specific crime and being able to rely on the answer.