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OB OY YL VEN? MIND-READING COMPUTERS BUSH'S BUSINESS IS CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET Bus and American scientists are developing an "emotionally aware" computer that they hope will be able to read an individual's thoughts by analysing a combination of facial movements that represent underlying feelings. Professor Peter Robinson and his collaborators from the University of Cambridge, in England, believe the computer's applications could range from improving people's driving skills to helping companies tailor advertising to people's moods. "The system we _ have developed allows a wide range of mental states to be identified just by pointing a video camera at someone," he said. "Imagine a computer that could pick the right emotional moment to try to sell you something, a future where mobile phones, cars and websites could read our mind and react to our moods." The scientists, who are developing the technology in collaboration with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA, also hope to get it to accept other inputs such as posture and gesture. "Our research could enable websites to tailor advertising or products to your mood," Professor Robinson said. "For example, a webcam linked with our software could process your image, encode efore and during US President ao” George W. Bush's recent trip to Vienna, Austrian newspapers were abuzz with details of the heavy-handed, Gestapo-like security measures behind the visit. But of all these measures, it was White House "toilet security" ("TOILSEC") that had Austrians talking the most. The White House flew in a special portable toilet to Vienna for Bush's personal use during his visit. It seems that the White House is so concerned about the President's security that it has extended the veil of secrecy over his bodily excretions. The special port-a-john was designed to capture Bush's "waste material" which was then to be flown back to the United States, thus thwarting any attempt by some enterprising foreign intelligence agency to conduct an operation designed to trap and examine Bush's waste material. One can only wonder why the White House takes such extraordinary security measures. In the past, similar operations were conducted against foreign leaders to determine their medical conditions, but these intelligence operations were directed against dictators in countries where even the medical conditions of the top political leaders were considered "state secrets". The Israeli Mossad conducted one such operation against Syrian President Hafez Assad when he visited Amman, Jordan, in 1999 for the funeral of King Hussein. The Mossad had installed a special toilet in Assad's hotel room that led not to a pipe but to a specimen canister. Assad suffered from diabetes and cancer, and the operation was designed to discover the actual medical condition of the ailing leader. During Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to Washington in 1987, the CIA reportedly placed a special trap under a sewage tank to collect the Soviet leader's bodily waste for analysis. More recently, the CIA was reported to have collected waste samples from Ugandan president-dictator Yoweri Museveni's toilet when he visited Washington. (Source: Wayne Madsen Report, 4 July 2006, http://www.waynemadsenreport.com) the correct emotional state and transmit information to a website." It could also be useful in online teaching to show whether someone understands what is being explained and in improving road safety by determining if a driver is confused, bored or tired. "We are working with a big car company and they envision this being employed in cars within five years," he said. He says a camera could be built into the dashboard and anyone who does not want to give away too much information about what they are feeling can just cover up the camera. (Source: Reuters, 26 June 2006) SCENT TS me Fig Aste MLE come WITHIN 250, 000 Kas oF Enery THE CLosesr ep et Becaw. Bucks Has Mp eReD ArPuicy tr To BUILD A FA AMCHISE Ow iT AS rT Passes, —————————————— Semeres fe al 6 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2006