Eye-tracking lie detectors inch a little closer to reality
If lie detection is your thing, choices aren't exactly scarce: you can go with Lego for the kids, Skype-centric for remote fibber identification, or even use a headband if you can corral your suspect long enough. Hoping to add to that list is the University of Utah, whose eye-tracking lie detector has been licensed to a local company in order to explore its viability as a commercial product. As with Blade Runnner's Voight-Kampff empathy test, Utah's methodology revolves around monitoring things like eye movement, pupil dilation and response time -- with the major difference being that you're trying to identify truth evaders rather than skinjobs. John Kircher, one of the lead researchers, claims results so far have been as good as or better than those obtained with polygraph testing, though he admits the project is still in its early stages. No worries, though, we're sure they'll perfect the technique in time for our post-apocalyptic, Vangelis-scored future.