Posted on 02/11/2007 4:58:21 AM PST by Stoat
Tiny cameras the size of a fingernail linked to specialist computers are to be used to monitor the behaviour of airline passengers as part of the war on terrorism.
Cameras fitted to seat-backs will record every twitch, blink, facial expression or suspicious movement before sending the data to onboard software which will check it against individual passenger profiles.
Scientists from Britain and Germany are spending £25million developing a system which they hope will make it virtually impossible to hijack an airliner by providing pilots and cabin crew with an early warning of a possible terrorist attack such as 9/11.
They say that rapid eye movements, blinking excessively, licking lips or ways of stroking hair or ears are classic symptoms of somebody trying to conceal something.
A separate microphone will hear and record even whispered remarks. Islamic suicide bombers are known to whisper texts from the Koran in the moments before they explode bombs.
The software being developed by the scientists will be so sophisticated that it will be able to take account of nervous flyers or people with a natural twitch, helping to ensure there are no false alarms.
"We're trying to develop technologies that indicate the differences between normal passengers and those who may be a threat to others, or themselves," said Catherine Neary of BAE Systems.
Mrs Neary, team leader of the Onboard Threat Detection System for the Paris-based Security Of Aircraft In The Future European Environment (SAFEE) project, added: "Blink rates come from lie-detection research and suggest the stress level is higher than normal."
The project is also developing automated flight controls that will prevent a hijacker taking over an airliner and sensors at the aircraft's doors to detect if someone is carrying explosives or chemicals.
Mrs Neary said that under the Data Protection Act, all video, audio and other recordings would be destroyed at the end of every flight so that passengers' civil liberties were not infringed.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, said: "Watching people constantly on aircraft and trying to work out patterns of behaviour is a difficult road to travel.
"I suspect that it will put people off flying because they will feel uncomfortable if their every blink and twitch is being monitored."
Airlines gave the scheme a cautious welcome, indicating it would be too expensive to fit on existing commercial aircraft and that it would probably be ten years before such systems were fitted to new planes.
A British Airways spokeswoman said: "While we welcome new research and development which advances aviation security, we believe the emphasis and funding for any new initiatives would be better placed on preventing terrorists boarding aircraft in the first place.
"For example, research and development of better screening and detection equipment on the ground would be of more value at this time."
I suppose the developers released their data to the media because then they would have an excuse to do a complete redesign, the details of which they will release to the media which will necessitate a complete redesign........
It might attract a lot of paraphiliacs and particularly those drawn toward performance-oriented exhibitionism
More reasons not to take the plane, and certainly not to take your family on a plane trip.
This seems to mainly be an effort to engage in an expensive and lucrative R&D project that is ineffective at it's core and is not wanted by the airlines anyway.
It's a feel-good means of avoiding the obvious but politically-charged solution of aggressive profiling.
Like maybe a fear of flying? How many planes will be diverted due to false alarms? Might as well put the passengers in straight-jackets and a five point harness with leg restraints.
Or solve the problem back at the nest.
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They should have had one of these on Pelosi during the State of the Union address.
They should have had one of these on Pelosi during the State of the Union address.
Yes, if that technology is up to speed at all it would have instantly identified her as a 'terrorist enabler' and forced an instant Capitol lockdown with hundreds of arrests.
Oh, what a pleasant dream!
Oooooh! Great idea !!
They can also make all the seats ejection capable so the software will just pop them out of the plane. Save money by not providing the parachute. We'll all fly safer!
/sarcasm
Staples has em in stock........
(snicker)
The technology would automatically exclude muzzies from this ejection protocol, however, because this would be viewed as being overly insensitive to such noble and patriotic folk.
Only false positives targeting others would engineered into the system.
Staples has em in stock........
Very stupid idea. Means that the originator is stupid.
A better way to prevent hijackings is to arrange for separate flights for those belonging to the ideology of death and destruction. Those flights would be advertized as "non-profiled". Then only jihadists and bleeding-heart liberals would fly on them.
This technology would lead to making hoaxes a major weapon of terrorism. Send a couple of completely clean terrorists onto a large number of planes. Have them act in a suspicious manner triggering a alert and the diversion of the plane. When questioned and examined, nothing is found. File lawsuits against the airline and the government. Early efforts in this area have already taken place such as the group of Imams praying and acting suspiciously and then demanding all sorts of apologies and accommodations after they were taken off of a plane and then found not to be terrorists.
Damn, best idea on this thread.LMAO.
Well said and nice wheels.
I spy, with my little eye,
A terrified passenger,
Fate forced to fly.
She's nervous, she fidgets,
There's no holding back.
Never mind if she's 80,
On crutches and black.
My guess is fortified cockpit doors and guns for the pilots would be cheaper and more effective.
ditto the political correctness.
Thank you kindly :-)
and nice wheels.
Unfortunately they aren't mine....I found the pictures on the internet when looking for vehicles that symbolize the freedom of the open road and the luxury of personal, self-defined and unconstrained travel.
The stoatmobile is not nearly as stylish as either one in those pictures but it's still far more comfortable than any airline seat and I would have no problems with taking it on transcontinental journeys.
Particularly after hearing that story that was in the news just recently about that breathtakingly awful situation that occurred where a plane full of passengers sat on the runway for EIGHT HOURS and they refused to let the passengers off, they had no food and the toilets quickly became impossible....one lady told of how people on board were getting physically ill and the recirculated air took the odor of the illness throughout the plane....finally the pilot risked his job by taking the plane back to the terminal.....the completely uncaring and inhuman brutality of the airline and airport management was made crystal clear, and I won't fly unless there's no other option.
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