Show you can balance or you can't fly?

topic posted Sun, October 11, 2009 - 1:41 PM by  Deborah
Share/Save/Bookmark
Advertisement
Oh, great. I'll never be able to fly again.

If you know me in real life, you know that my middle name is not "Grace". ;) You also know that it is not possible for me to sit or stand still for more than about 10 seconds.

Fit to fly? Balance Board tapped to detect shifty characters at airports
videogames.yahoo.com/events/.../1361483

by Mike Smith
October 7 2:42 P.M.

Nervous flyers, beware: a Department of Homeland Security-funded project is investigating whether Wii Fit Balance Boards might be good ways to detect signs of tension or unease in airport security lines.

As somewhere over 20 million Wii Fit owners know, the Balance Board can detect your precise balance point, making it a perfect keep-fit tool -- but the Future Attribute Screening Technology project hopes detecting physiological signs -- including rapid shifts in balance -- will help identify passengers who may have hostile intentions.

"Researchers took a Wii balance board...and altered it to show how someone's weight shifts. Studies are now under way to determine whether there is a level of fidgeting that would suggest the need for secondary screening," CNN said.

The Balance Board is just one of a suite of sensors the Boston-based project is trialing; others include eye trackers and devices that record respiratory and heart rates. Researchers say their goal is to have a system ready for field tests in 2011.
posted by:
Deborah
SF Bay Area
Advertisement
Advertisement

Recent topics in "Privacy and Civil Rights"