India And Colorado To Introduce Brain Fingerprinting

from the but-does-it-really-work? dept

dr2tom (from the DaVinci Institute) writes "The government of India signed a contract this week to use Brain Fingerprinting technology in its criminal justice system. Invented by Seattle-based Dr. Lawrence Farwell, brain fingerprinting uses a headband with sensors measuring brain waves to determine whether certain information is stored in a person's memory. For example, if a picture of a murder scene is shown to a crime suspect, brain-wave measurements might indicate familiarity with the image. Working with the Colorado-based DaVinci Institute, the company said it would like to build a national training center in Colorado." We've written about brain fingerprinting many times before, and it's highly controversial, with those who are against it pointing out the many problems with the current research on the subject. While there's been a lot of press about the topic, it still seems worthwhile to remain skeptical about how well this technology works.
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  1. identicon
    Ed Halley, 29 Apr 2004 @ 12:48pm

    No Subject Given

    So having previously rented movies like Natural Born Killers and Kill Bill Vol 1 a few times could be a suitable defense? But having borrowed Mein Kampf and Catcher in the Rye will still put you on the FBI lists. Hmmm.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    thecaptain, 29 Apr 2004 @ 5:08pm

    No Subject Given

    This is pretty nifty...

    ..of course that's assuming you can find a brain on the subject you are examining.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Captain Cruncher, 29 Apr 2004 @ 10:02pm

    This will only get better

    This is a relatively new technology that will only get better. Our biggest mistake will be killing the technology before we give it a chance. It looks like we will be forever behind India on this one.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    AMetamorphosis, 30 Apr 2004 @ 7:50am

    Digital Snake Oil ...



    Lie detectors do not work and I highly doubt this quack technology will work any better.

    I could have a memory from a movie of a crime scene and seeing a picture of a similar one might invoke the same response. Did I commit the crime ? No.

    Can we outsource the people we deem criminals to India ?

    link to this | view in thread ]


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