Thermal Imaging of the Head for the Sensing and Identification of Concealed Intent

The ultimate goal of the present Phase II proposal is to develop a system and product for automatic, non-contact identification of concealed intent. The proposed system uses a thermal camera, a video camera, and microphones to collect facial images and voice data, and uses advanced face tracking, feature extraction, event recognition, and sequential-testing techniques to conduct the data analysis and to make decisions. Research results and methods from psychophysiological research, such as the guilty knowledge test, are applied to the experiment design for data collection. The automatic identification results will be compared and cross-validated against proven modalities of brain activity as reflected in the P3 component of the EEG in event-related potentials (ERP) and the traditional polygraph method. The developed system and product will meet the immediate need for fast and cost-effective detection of concealed information or intent in defense and homeland security applications, such as border control, airports, and critical facility access. The system also has great potential applications in medical diagnostics, biometrics, human computer interaction, and many other scientific research areas.