Minority Report a Reality: Defense Scientists Probe ‘Biometrics Of Intent’

03-06-2011 • ottawacitizen.com

The concept resembles Steven Spielberg’s 2002 sci-fi thriller Minority Report, in which police in 2054 apprehend criminals based on a foreknowledge of crimes yet to be committed. If successful in the real world, the “biometrics of intent” could, for example, help determine whether the anxious-looking man at the airport is just stressed-out or actually dangerous. Or if someone is just having a bad day at the office or really does intend to kill the boss. Intent is a tricky psychological state and difficult to differentiate from beliefs, desires and negative but routine emotions. But intent implies a person has made a preceding decision to take an action, while emotions and beliefs are often static or fleeting. “Intentions are formed at a later time point compared to beliefs and emotions, so the idea is that some level of mental effort goes into forming intentions,” says Dr. Oshin Vartanian, a scientist with the federal research arm of the defence department. How to isolate the brain physiology of intentional mental states is part of a continuing project...