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Computer Voice Stress Analyzer
IS IT A LIE?
t used to be that detecting a lie depended upon the observer's experience and intuition. Then, along came the polygraph-an instrument that, for 60 years, helped detect the veracity of someone. The polygraph had some effectiveness, but it also had its problems and limitations.
New technology has made possible an innovative entry into the field of lie detection-the Computer Voice Stress Analyzer® (CVSA). Developed in the 1980s, this relatively new technology features the recording, quantifying and analyzing of the subject's voice. By 1989, CVSA was making its first inroads in law enforcement, primarily with smaller police agencies.
Its effectiveness quickly prompted some large metropolitan agencies to add its technology. Those agencies now include Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, and the California Highway Patrol. In addition, the CVSA® and CVSA®II have been used in military combat and field conditions by the U.S. military since 2002.
It is the National Institute for Truth Verification Federal Services(TM) (located in West Palm Beach, Fla.) that is the manufacturer and sole source of CVSA and CVSA II and the "Final Analysis Confirmation Tool(TM)" (FACT(TM)). FACT is a patented and validated automated scoring algorithm for quantifying and evaluating voice stress patterns.
The CVSA II is the "next generation" model that adds the FACT Scoring System; a simplification of the examiner interfaces to reduce the time required in conducting examinations. The CVSA II has the capability to record live and telephonic examinations onto the system's hard drive.
Computer voice stress analysis is low in cost, and the technology to use it is easy to operate and adaptable to various conditions. But its hallmark seems to be its accuracy. A recent study by James Chapman in the annual scientific journal, "Criminalistics and Court Expertise," states that the accuracy of computer voice stress analysis is greater than 95 percent.
Chapman's study was based on an 18-year field study. Chapman is not alone in his assessment. Journalist Bob McCarty, author of "The Clapper Memo," tells of...