This sounds very tabloidy, but this actually seems like an interesting and useful application, especially given the recent high-profile incidents where train drivers in the American north-east nodded off and caused crashes.<p>> <i>Deayea, a technology company in Shanghai, said its brain monitoring devices were worn regularly by train drivers working on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line, one of the busiest of its kind in the world.</i><p>> <i>The sensors, built in the brim of the driver’s hat, could measure various types of brain activities, including fatigue and attention loss with an accuracy of more than 90 per cent, according to the company’s website.</i><p>> <i>If the driver dozed off, for instance, the cap would trigger an alarm in the cabin to wake him up.</i>
> Cheng Jingzhou, the official who oversees the company's program, said "there is no doubt about its effect,"<p>Well, I can't argue about this: the technology has unquestionably had the effect of causing some people to be reassigned, some disciplined, etc. But absurd hearsay comments about increased profits? I think some science and some numbers are required.<p>(I read the SCMP article of which this was a summary and it didn't have any higher journalistic value).
Wonder how they controlled for the Hawthorne effect?<p>Mass surveillance is often in the back of one’s mind, but there are few physical reminders. Being fitted with equipment that is intended to read your brainwaves definitely would alter the perception of being observed and cause a spike in productivity by itself, without any actual managerial interventions needed.<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect</a>
I wouldn't be surprised if those numbers are exaggerated (or fabricated) in order to facilitate widespread acceptance and adoption of surveillance.
This is similar to the premise of the anime "Psycho-Pass" (where a weapon's lethality is governed by the target's mental state).<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho-Pass" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho-Pass</a>
Here! Buy this hat from my reputable friend here. You will see productivity increase by hundreds of millions! Each hat is only $1000! A very fine hat! One for every citizen!
If anyone is interested the original SCMP article contains a lot more detail: <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2143899/forget-facebook-leak-china-mining-data-directly-workers-brains" rel="nofollow">http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2143899/forge...</a>
This actually strikes me as being relatively easy for an AI to tackle.<p>So, I expected automated "flag" generation to become widespread. Merge with some context information, and you'll receive either surveillance or a tap on the shoulder when you get too emotional in an "non-typical" or "elevated security" context.<p>I, too, am horrified by it. Especially as someone who is a bit atypical, such as to how much extraneous human noise can frustrate me when I'm trying to focus. I don't "act out", but my pulse and other biometrics will spike.<p>Now, that may equate with "undesirable behavior". Because I'm trying to tune out some noisy people and concentrate.
Sad how this technology is being used for tyrannical surveillance when it could be used to improve the mental health and emotional well-being of people instead. I imagine using this to improve the emotional well-being of your employees would boost productivity much more.