An experimental research funded by the Homeland Security is being conducted at Boston, Massachusetts. The project named Future Attribute Screening Technology or FAST is being developed to read the body signals of the people at security check points.

The abnormalities in the natural signals like the heart rate, the body temperature, eye movement and respiratory rates would determine if the person needed to be go through a secondary screening for questioning. There have been researches that determine the relation between the physical responses and the person’s mental and emotional state.

This $20 million project could surely save you a lot of pain at security checkpoints like airports, stadiums, mass transit centers etc. You may not even have to remove your jacket and shoes. However, one of the researchers, Daniel Martin is of the viewpoint that the measurement of body signals cannot measure the intent of the person. Many critics have say that the regular method of tracking the terrorist or suspect is much more convincing than the FAST technology. Civil liberties groups have found another reason protest claiming that no one has the right to measure ones bodily functions and is an invasion of ones privacy. The FAST technology hopes to start its field testing by 2011.

Via: CNN