Contact: Dr Li Bai
bai@cs.nott.ac.uk

Do You Believe Me Now? - A Location Based Game Engine for Deception Detection

GPRS phones will be used for this project.

I have recently received funding from EPSRC to develop a location based game engine to simulate deception detection. In the game we create, players will be tracked by GPS-enabled mobile phones/PDAs. The trajectory and behaviour of players will be recorded for analysis/replay. We will develop methods for identifying deceptive behaviour based on position, velocity, acceleration etc of the tracked objects (location-based intelligence).

At a time of raised terrorist threat, there is a pressing need for research that assists security and police services in protecting the public and key assets, and in preventing attacks from taking place. Successful protection and prevention may require operations to monitor or arrest potential and known suspects. In addition to better tracking information on which to base suspicions, the security and police services need to have confidence that operations will yield evidence which can demonstrate conclusively that a deceptive activity (e.g., a terrorist attack) was in the process of being planned or executed when an operation took place.

The project addresses counter-terrorism goals of protection and prevention by capitalising upon 'scent trails' that are left when individuals and groups traverse an information-rich physical space. By 'scent trail' we refer to the set and trajectory of indicators left over time when an individual or group visits locations revealed by positioning systems such as GPS. CCTV images might also contribute to scent trails. However, if one understands what kinds of activities and behaviours are consistent, the trail can be used to provide evidence of deception. If, for example, during an interview a suspect claims that they had no links with another suspect, then a scent trail might be used to demonstrate that this claim is false.

The project is supported by an External Advisory Panel, Chaired by Andy Colman of the Home Office Scienific Development Branch.