TECHNOLOGY Nothing more than feelings? Not to 'cyber-ESP' sensor system

Researchers hope recording vital signs and responses will improve team action.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Managers, employees and soldiers often wish they could read each other's minds.
Sandia National Laboratories wants to help them -- by creating their own form of ESP with computers and sensors.
The method could be called cyber-ESP or cyber-empathy, but essentially it uses sensors and computer memory to let members of a group better understand each other, said Peter Merkle, a Sandia scientist.
"Teams can get ideas that one single brilliant person simply can't get on their own," Merkle said. "We wanted to see if we could make that group process even better."
Using cyber-ESP, managers in a crisis situation could find the best ways to use each individual team member. That knowledge could help commando units work more effectively -- and safely -- in the field and could also help emergency managers more quickly deal with an overwhelming amount of data, Merkle said.
Trying it out
To test the cyber-ESP process, scientists strapped four Sandia workers to a series of monitors and sensors and had them play a combat video game together over a period of eight months. The monitors recorded facial expressions, heart rate, body movement, blood oxidation and even the electrical reflexivity of skin. Scientists recorded their reactions and actions inside the game, "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield," which is a commercial product sold in game stores.
The first goal was to look at the reactions from the outside and see how the group worked to improve its own performance.
The next step, which will begin in the next few months, is to let members of the group see each other's responses and emotional states in real time and use that information -- along with data from the first experiment -- to improve the group's effectiveness.