News | Friday, 10th January 2014
Catching killers - MMU technology on TV
Lie detector rumbles notorious criminals
GROUNDBREAKING technology used to catch people telling lies has featured in a fascinating prime-time documentary TV show.
The University took centre stage for ITV’s The Lying Game: Crimes That Fooled Britain to see how the high-tech system could be used to rumble lying killers.
Dr James O’Shea demonstrated the lie detector he helped to develop - dubbed ‘Silent Talker’ - to show how it could been used to catch some of the nation’s most notorious criminals.
The programme centred on suspects who claimed to be blameless following incidents such as missing people or unsolved killings, before appearing in public appeals of sham displays of innocence.
Catching criminals
Dr O’Shea demonstrated how the computer and camera-based system is used to separate fact from fiction. Footage of famous TV appeals from offenders, who were later discovered to have been lying, was analysed to show Silent Talker’s abilities
The senior lecturer, from the School of Mathematics, Computing and Digital technology, said: “I’m always very pleased to talk to people about it and it’s good to keep it in the public eye.
“We showed what Silent Talker could do - people who have been suspects in crimes and who made public appeals and filmed statements were analysed to reveal if they were lying or telling the truth.”
MMU undergraduates also featured in a test conducted in computer laboratories, with one student lying and the other telling the truth as to whether they had taken £10 from a bag. The system passed with flying colours.
Cutting-edge technology
Silent Talker was first developed in 2002 by Dr O’Shea and Dr Zuhair Bandar.
It analyses micro gestures in the face, from an eye half open to fully open, called ‘channels’. The system follows several at once and monitors the interaction between the channels to determine if someone is lying. Tests show a 90 per cent success rate.
The University is working on finding commercial partners to turn Silent Talker into a prototype and then a fully-fledged product.
