I have a Wii Fit. When doing the yoga, it says I have good balance, but when doing anything else, it tells me I have terrible balance. When doing the things where you have to deliberately shift you weight in certain ways, I'm terrible at. Top it off, I'm a natural fidgety person. I like to fly, but imagine all the people that really don't like flying at all? Am I the only one that things this is a bad idea???


Nervous flyers, beware: a Department of Homeland Security-funded project is investigating whether Wii Fit Balance Boards might be good ways to detect signs of tension or unease in airport security lines.

As somewhere over 20 million Wii Fit owners know, the Balance Board can detect your precise balance point, making it a perfect keep-fit tool -- but the Future Attribute Screening Technology project hopes detecting physiological signs -- including rapid shifts in balance -- will help identify passengers who may have hostile intentions.

"Researchers took a Wii balance board...and altered it to show how someone's weight shifts. Studies are now under way to determine whether there is a level of fidgeting that would suggest the need for secondary screening," CNN said.

The Balance Board is just one of a suite of sensors the Boston-based project is trialing; others include eye trackers and devices that record respiratory and heart rates. Researchers say their goal is to have a system ready for field tests in 2011.

Kind of creepy since the people I would most be afraid of would not be fidgety and sociopathic enough to be calm about blowing up and airplane. Maybe it is lack of response to flying they are looking for? I don't see how they have data on terrorists to know what to look for.

Now if it intradicts some of the drugs flowing into the country that might be something to think about.

Or stops drunks or stupid parents dragging infants and young toddlers that can't tolerate the trip from flying it would get my vote.

I just wish they would build more bullet trains and reduce the number of planes poluteing the air. Less flying bombs would make me feel a lot safer.

it's weird but there is no end to the ways in which money is wasted.

i wouldn't worry too much about this particular line of research
going anywhere.



there are more effective means of screening.

I would agree, too many reasons to fidget!!

This is insane. Wasting tax payers hard earned money on this. Gee whiz!

A few years ago they pulled me and my little girl (then 6) out of the line. I asked what they were doing and she said random checking. I couldn't hold my little girl's hand to comfort her because she was crying because she had to stand with her legs and arms out, as I did, having a metal wand scan our whole body.

Wake up!

I had to take my shoes off in front of my child. My child was confused as to why I was doing that in an airport.

You do know, this is only flights in USA, or flights going to USA only, right?
The rest of the world don't do this to any country, you can freely go as you please with no crazy security checks like this, as long as your destination is not USA. I just know, because I travel a lot.

Small price to pay for safety, if it is truly random and not racial profiling. I havent flew domestic in a while but I know internationally is not exactly a picnic either,,little thing called CUSTOMS.

With suicide bombers now packing explosives into their butts,airport screenings could become a lot more interesting.be seeing you

Cavity search for everyone?

I think I'll drive, thanks.

I cannot pass a road side sobriety test due to my MS so I would definitely be in trouble here.

Mom and I have discussed that because of her MS as well (course, I don't know if either of us could repeat the alphabet backwords or count backwords, either). I'm just not great at balance period. Well, except a'horseback, then I'm fine. Can't dance worth flip however. LOL!

Sounds to me as though someone in the government is just looking for an excuse to put their wii on their expense reimbursements. Don't worry about it, it will pass, as so many other of these dumb things do.

I didn't know that.