Scientists develop 'Minority Report' system to detect would-be terrorists

Daily Mail
Posted : 2007-08-09 13:25:45

"Minority Report" security system that can remotely screen thousands of air passengers for any who are planning a terrorist attack is being developed in the US.

The aim of Project Hostile Intent is to find a way of catching would-be terrorists when they are just thinking of committing a crime.

A battery of lasers, cameras, eye trackers and microphones would be used to spot tiny changes in facial expression, pulse, perspiration, and gait that give away "current or future hostile intentions".

After tests at a handful of air and sea ports and border checkpoints the system could be deployed at all US entry points by 2012.

The system uses complex software with imaging technology to pick up on tiny changes in expression

But critics claim Project Hostile Intent is unworkable. One British expert compared it with "Minority Report", the sci-fi movie starring Tom Cruise in which police arrest the perpetrators of future crimes predicted by psychics.

The system is being developed by scientists working for the US Department of Homeland Security, New Scientist magazine reported.

It would employ some of the techniques already used in polygraph lie detectors and by security staff trained in recognising body language.

But PHI would have to operate remotely, screening thousands of passengers having their bags checked or waiting to show their passports, most of whom will be innocent.

Computers would be used to carry out a rapid assessment of all the data received. Identified individuals would be apprehended and led off to be interviewed by security officers.

Since 2003, a system called Screening Passengers through Observation Techniques (Spot) has already been used at airports in the US.

It uses trained "behaviour detection officers" who have been taught how to recognise suspicious "micro-expressions" in people milling around airports that may signify guilt or deception.

Spot has had some success and ensnared drug dealers, money launderers and one double murderer.

However it is expensive, labour intensive and time consuming. PHI is intended to automate Spot while at the same time increasing the number of signals that can be investigated.

Computer scientist Professor Peter McOwan, from Queen Mary, University of London, who is working on mood-responsive software, doubted that the system would improve security.

"It's just like something from Minority Report," he told New Scientist. "They have been watching too many Tom Cruise films."

Other experts pointed out that airports are high-stress places filled with people who are bored, tired, saying goodbye to loved ones, carrying upset children, late for flights or perhaps scared of flying.

Any system that flagged up signs of stress was likely to target innocent people.

"Are we to stop and question anyone who shows those emotions?" said psychologist Dr Paul Ekman, from the University of California at San Francisco.

Terrorists might also display a complex and confusing array of emotional reactions, he stressed.

Dr Ekman added: "Would they show fear of being caught, contempt for the likely victims, sadness at the prospect of being killed, joy at the possibility of soon going to paradise? I don't know. No one knows."