How do you spot a criminal or terrorist before they get the chance to put whatever wicked plans they have into action? Criminologists have put a huge amount of effort into answering that question over the years and now researchers at City University hope to give them a helping hand by developing a sensor that can ‘smell’ the fear and anxiety associated with being a bad guy.
The ability to detect the ‘fear pheromone’ could, the project team hopes, lead to detectors at airports and other public spaces that sniff out criminal intent in the same way a trained dog can smell drugs.
A fascinating prospect, but as the researchers themselves admit one that needs a good deal more work before it becomes a reality. The effects of strong perfume, for example. Certainly, the knowledge that a heavy dose of aftershave would make you undetectable would hole the system below the waterline from the word go. Then again, maybe anyone in an airport security queue with the smell of a 1970s lothario would instantly become the object of suspicion, sending sales of male grooming products plunging because they are likely to get you arrested.
Surely the biggest problem for the team, however, is separating criminal fear and anxiety from good old honest fear and anxiety. Nervous about flying? Worried you might miss your plane? Stressed out because the kids won’t behave? Unless the ‘fear detector’ has it right on the button, you’d better have a good alibi ready.
Andrew Lee, Editor
I trust the first place this will be tested is the House of Commons. I am sure it would have saved much of the recent furore.
Presumably sniffer dogs will actually detect passengers afraid of dogs. Perhaps Inscentinel’s detector (the bomb-sniffing bees) will work particularly well here as only people with someting to hide should get nervous.
A waste of time. Genuine bad guys are professional and fearless and would not smell of fear. The detectors may occasionally detect amateur bad guys or those, innocent, like most of us who fear a positive response from the machine. Those of us who would like to be detected for a laugh, will not be fearful, so will fail to be detected.
The only benefit is that the idea will make a wonderful TV skit in a comedy series; in conjunction with the new ‘nude’ body scanners.
I want to think this is too far fetched. It would be great for a children’s story about hunting down bad guys and reminds me of similar tactics used by desperate police. Why not just sedate all the passengers and put them in individual kennels?
The sad part about trying to interpret emotions of others without simple communication is just contorted. In Japan, they take pictures of employees to see if they smile enough. To each their own, but for customers – keep it simple. Seriously, do credit checks before the flight to see if anyone has broken the bank purchasing too many flammables.
It breaks down to the fact that there will always be an element of risk. Living is just that.
Part of this article reminds me of the laws just passed in the U.S. under “hate crimes” – which is also exercised in other parts of the world already. The reality that others are interpreting others’ intentions already – sans the holy engineer, sans any objective anything – is now more a reality than people realize. It erodes trust, basic personal liberties, beliefs, and integrity of the government. It is in the name of safety, but was recently said to make people “secure”. Well, most of us had to go through our teenage years and learn this. It has nothing to do with safety, it does feed political speeches, lines lawyers’ pockets, and is rampantly misused.
Why not just sedate all the passengers/citizens and put them in individual kennels? Sound too much like “1984”?
Keep up the imagination, and for all those good intentions, just realize where it’s pointing to and who it’s affecting.