The technology behind Nintendo's Wii Fit could help nab terrorists at the airport.
CNN reports that Department of Homeland Security researchers modified a Wii Balance Board to test for weight shifts in passengers. They're now looking into whether there's any connection between shifting weight and nervousness, indicating the need for additional security screenings.
It's highly unlikely that the TSA would ever have passengers step onto a Balance Board, but the underlying technology, which detects the amount of pressure on the left and right sides of the hardware, could be used in future security equipment.
The use of a Wii Balance Board is one of several measures DHS is looking at as part of a research project called Fast Attribute Screening Technology. In addition to Nintendo's gaming device, DHS showed off a thermal imaging scanner to test whether someone's face is getting hot, a pair of heart and respiratory monitors and a tracker that measures blinking and pupil dilation.
Instead of relying on any one technology, DHS wants to use them all together, measuring a person's overall psychological behavior. The technology has long way to go, but project manager Robert Burns told CNN that field testing could start in 2011.
Of course, there are detractors. Stephen Fienberg, a professor of statistics and social sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, said there are no studies that link intend to do harm to the input DHS seeks. The American Civil Liberties Union's Joe Stanley said that looking at a person's bodily functions is an invasion of privacy.
In a sense, he may be right, but passengers already consent to having their belongings searched when stepping through an airport security gate, and in some cases passengers are X-Rayed (though this has generated controversy as well). If this technology is ever introduced at airports, I'm sure it'll result in complaints, but that won't stop it.
In the meantime, I can't wait to see what DHS does with Microsoft's Project Natal.
