New tools to ferret out the truth

At the border crossing or airport security checkpoint of the near future, you could be questioned by an avatar on a computer screen while an array of instruments unobtrusively measures your pulse, blood pressure, blink rate and retinal response.
Meanwhile, a computer program would parse your sentences. It seems you use more genuine words in your sentences when you're telling the truth, said University of Arizona researcher Kevin Moffitt, who is working with colleagues at the university's Center for the Management of Information at the Eller College of Management to test an array of instruments that could rapidly ferret out deception.
Liars, said Moffitt, use more filler words: the "ums" and "ers" of the nervous responder.
Moffitt's work is part of the National Center for Border Security and Immigration Research, which opened its University of Arizona headquarters late last year. Ten research universities are taking part in the center under a six-year, $16 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
Moffitt presented some preliminary findings of early research and studies recently to the Information Ethics Roundtable of the University of Arizona's School of Information Resources and Library Science.
Journalism professor David Cuillier joked that he would have loved to deploy Moffitt's instruments during his career as a news reporter but said he worried that the technologies, once perfected, will be misused. "Their use worries me just a little bit," Cuillier said.
Machines can be a lot more effective than humans in detecting deception, Moffitt said.
Most people are programmed to believe other people's statements. "Humans are poor lie detectors," Moffitt said -- approximately 54 percent accurate in discerning lies.
Professional doubters in law enforcement do better, he said, but the accuracy of the best trained -- the "wizards" of the Secret Service -- is 70 percent at best.
Moffitt said he gets a kick from television shows such as "Lie to Me" in which the characters seems to have 100 percent accuracy in discovering lies by reading facial cues.
Facial cues are part of the mix, he said.
In his lab, interviewees are captured on high-speed cameras. Their rate of blinking and their body movements are recorded. A laser focused on the carotid artery records blood pressure and pulse. A thermal camera records temperature, focusing on the area around the eyes. Another video-imaging device measures pupil dilation.
All of those results provide clues to veracity, Moffitt said. Some would be difficult to deploy discreetly or would take too long at busy airports and border crossings, he said.

Contact Tom Beal at tbeal(at)azstarnet.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com

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