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An Eye-Scanning Lie Detector Is Forging a Dystopian Future (wired.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Sitting in front of a Converus EyeDetect station, it's impossible not to think of Blade Runner. In the 1982 sci-fi classic, Harrison Ford's rumpled detective identifies artificial humans using a steam-punk Voight-Kampff device that watches their eyes while they answer surreal questions. EyeDetect's questions are less philosophical, and the penalty for failure is less fatal (Ford's character would whip out a gun and shoot). But the basic idea is the same: By capturing imperceptible changes in a participant's eyes -- measuring things like pupil dilation and reaction time -- the device aims to sort deceptive humanoids from genuine ones.

It claims to be, in short, a next-generation lie detector. Polygraph tests are a $2 billion industry in the US and, despite their inaccuracy, are widely used to screen candidates for government jobs. Released in 2014 by Converus, a Mark Cuban-funded startup, EyeDetect is pitched by its makers as a faster, cheaper, and more accurate alternative to the notoriously unreliable polygraph. By many measures, EyeDetect appears to be the future of lie detection -- and it's already being used by local and federal agencies to screen job applicants.

3 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. No he didn't by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 4, Informative

    >>Ford's character would whip out a gun and shoot

    Did you even see the film??

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    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
  2. Re:So Honesty is Dystopian? by spire3661 · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, the dystopian part of it is pretending you can detect lies by monitoring the body.

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    Good-bye
  3. Re:No correlation between biometrics and honesty by DickBreath · · Score: 4, Informative

    > history of efficacy.

    Really? I thought that people tortured will tell you whatever you want to hear.

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    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.