As reported by MSNBC, the U.S. department of defense has approved a new Windows Mobile based device for use in preliminary lie detection.
The new device, known by the acronym PCASS, for Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System, uses a commercial TDS Ranger hand-held personal digital assistant with three wires connected to sensors attached to the hand. An interpreter will ask a series of 20 or so questions in Persian, Arabic or Pashto: “Do you intend to answer my questions truthfully?” “Are the lights on in this room” “Are you a member of the Taliban?” The operator will punch in each answer and, after a delay of a minute or so for processing, the screen will display the results: “Green,” if it thinks the person has told the truth, “Red” for deception, and “Yellow” if it can’t decide.
Unfortunately the computer system is not as accurate as a polygraph test combined with a trained operator since it gathers less physiological information.
Perhaps future versions will have to add voice and video recording features combined with lie detection algorithms designed to process those inputs along with the skin and cardiovascular input already acquired by the electrodes.
Originally published on Pocketnow on July 5, 2008. More Hardware articles from the Pocketnow archive.