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A new device is being held to detect deception by accurately reading eye behavior.  Broadway World.com comments on this non-invasive lie detection method called EyeDetect.

Scientists at Utah based company Conversus, which invented the EyeDetect and the computerized polygraph, claim that their device can detect whether a person is being honest or is lying through subtle changes in the behavior of the human eye due to increased cognitive load.

Will this device replace the current polygraph or surpass it and be admitted into courts of law ?

Probably not anytime soon.  EyeDetect monitors the eye behavior of individuals using a high-speed eye tracker to measure subtle changes and then combines the measures in a mathematically optimal manner to detect deception.  The polygraph measures a person’s emotional response when lying, whereas EyeDetect evaluates changes in cognitive load associated with deception.

The scientists purport that the two technologies provide partially independent sources of diagnostic information about deception and may be used in combination to great advantage in some applications. However, there is no additional research to support that veracity can be determined solely from a person’s eyes.  In the company’s validation trial this “ocular motor deception test” had an 85% accuracy rate.

If this device can be proven, with further research, to be effective and accurate then perhaps the EyeDetect can be put into the category of a deception detection tool.  However, as of now, it seems to be more of a screening device than a bonafide  lie detector.  As with any tool or technique for evaluating truthfulness (i.e. the polygraph, or reading nonverbal tells) there is no one real sign that someone is being dishonest.  These are screening techniques/devices that have the potential to analyze individuals such as employees for hot spots that might lead to unveiling dishonesty such as previous issues with theft or fraud.

effectively screen potential employees for previous issues with theft or fraud is long overdue.”
Read more at http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwgeeks/article/Converus-Releases-First-Lie-Detection-Technology-That-Accurately-and-Efficiently-Reads-Eye-Behavior-20140408#OT3FFfOxbiJ8pRGv.99
effectively screen potential employees for previous issues with theft or fraud is long overdue.”
Read more at http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwgeeks/article/Converus-Releases-First-Lie-Detection-Technology-That-Accurately-and-Efficiently-Reads-Eye-Behavior-20140408#OT3FFfOxbiJ8pRGv.99

“We deal with a lot of sensitive information where the potential for risk is very high,“ said Vilash Poovala, co-founder and CTO of PayClip. developer of Clip a card reader that enables users in Mexico to accept credit and debit card payments through their smartphones and tablets. “We need to make sure the people we hire can be trusted. Technology like EyeDetect that can effectively screen potential employees for previous issues with theft or fraud is long overdue.“

Converus is focusing its initial efforts in demonstrating EyeDetect’s technological ability  as a pre-employment and periodic screening tool to help effectively manage risk and ensure workplace integrity.

Do You Think The Key to Unlocking The Truth Lies in our Eyes?

Courtesy of StockVault

A new study reported on by LiveScience suggests an alternative interpretation to the well-established fact that humans are terrible at correctly determining when they are being deceived.

Previous studies have shown that humans are no better than chance at detecting deception; however, this study suggests that the subconscious mind may be better at detecting deceit than previously thought.

The study, co-authored by social psychologist Leanne ten Brinke at UC Berkeley and published in the journal of Psychological Science, posits that the signals being received by the part of our brain that isn’t actively engaged in analyzing a potential liar’s movements and speech patterns are perhaps the crucial pieces of the puzzle and can help a person decipher the liars from the truth tellers.

“If I give you ten videos where five people are lying and five people are telling the truth, I can predict that you and everybody else is going to perform at 50 percent,“ said study co-author Leanne ten Brinke, a social psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley. “It’s just as accurate as flipping a coin.“ However, ten Brinke and her colleagues sought out to answer the question of whether the human subconscious is a more accurate lie detector. From an evolutionary standpoint, this made sense.

A group of 72 students was asked to determine whether their peers were lying to them about knowledge of $100 worth of money left in books. These amateur detectives did no better than chance, as has been proven in previous studies where people were asked to distinguish between liars and truth tellers. However, when asked what words they associated with each of the people they interacted with, the students had an implicit association of negative words (“deceitful,” “untruthful”) with the liars and positive words (“honest,” “valid”) with the truth-tellers.

The results of the research suggest that our subconscious minds are better at sensing differences in people’s behavior than we might think, though the cause for those differences may be unknown. A vague sense of unease is all it takes for our instincts to kick in and cause us to avoid an untruthful person.

“Our unconscious might be picking up on the right things that really are there,“ ten Brinke said.

The next step for the researchers is to determine something in the viewer’s response that could help scientists to easily and cheaply identify liars. Scientists are hopeful that they would be able to channel the aforementioned subconscious lie detection to find liars without the use of expensive lie detectors.