Do you remember the polygraph? I am sure you have seen it in movies. You know the machine they hook the accused to test if they are lying or not? Yes, that one! It is a not fiction, it is a real machine, and it works most times. Now. have you ever wondered how it worked? So with all the connections to skin, chest and fingertips, it detects your pulse, breathing, e.t.c. Apparently if you lie, these readings change and the polygraph knows you are lying!
Now a research team at the prestigious MIT in the USA have created another machine that can read your vitals without the need for wires. How does the machine do this? It bounces wireless radio signals off your body and reads them many times and continuously. It is claimed it can then use this information to accurately deduce your mood. It can do this because as humans, our vitals often translate to how we feel. E.g When you are aroused or scared your heartbeat increases rapidly. You can read the technical babble here.
Much like the polygraph though, it can be easily fooled. If you are very good at keeping your body calm when scared or aroused, then the machine won’t be able to tell! But like any great innovation, we at The Computer Potato think this technology has a lot of potential application and we wish to see more of its use in the nearest future! Think robots!
