'The smell of fear': feasibility study on the correlation of human smell and abnormal behaviour

The proposal has been designed to explore a novel and holistic approach which will engage experts across the full spectrum of their skills-base, through a suite of short-term research activities that are linked in theme and approach, yet are highly adventurous and in areas highly speculative in nature, aiming to provide an effective means for better and non-invasive human monitoring for security applications. Prior studies have shown that human odours can provide relevant biological information about their 'sender' and a key target of this approach is the fusion of the analysis of this type of olfactory communication with associated physiological and behavioural indications. This shows advantages particularly when the other two major 'senses', i.e. the visual and acoustic, are functionally restricted, most frequently the case in security screening. The interdisciplinary approach proposed addresses the detection of human 'fear' - focusing on fear pheromone as a key physiological indicator and correlating the information with human abnormal behaviour. Although simple to describe in these terms, real success envisaged is only possible when factors across the spectrum from the chemical, physical, engineering to the social sciences and psychology are effectively integrated, rather than viewed in isolation. The work will target as an outcome being able to determine the viability and efficacy of such an integrated approach to the detection of these human alarm signals: applied in assessing the stress status of an individual and interpreting this in a security-critical context. The application domain will allow addressing the feasibility of novel methods based on this approach for the rapid and accurate identification of criminal or terrorist suspects in public areas, e.g. at airports, railway stations or approaching the London Olympics, with minimum disruption to routine operations.

The project has been designed to make an impact beyond the confines of academia (as discussed above) and a breadth of impact will be created to several constituencies, as discussed below: 1. The wider public in general. Impact will come from the success of the research through a broadly study into the availability of a novel method for the rapid and accurate identification of criminal or terrorist suspects in public areas, e.g. at airports, railway stations or approaching the London Olympics while at the same time seeing minimum disruption to normal life and routine operations of our infrastructure. A significant impact would be avoiding the sort of massive disruption to the public and the significant financial losses that would be caused by terrorist attacks or major crime, especially with the upcoming Olympics in London. The public would expect to see only a safer and more pleasant environment in the UK and indeed worldwide as a result of the successful implementation of the outcomes of the project - a better environment for people to work in, to visit and to enjoy 2. The public sector and key stakeholders. The success of this feasibility study will not just provide the public sector and key stakeholders with valuable information arising from the success of the approaches taken through a study focusing on the impact of pheromones on social and individual behaviours. The work should equip the public sector with a cost-effective means to tackle these types of security-critical problems, aiming for the minimum compromises in terms of ethical and legal implications, and therefore allowing for significant savings to the public purse in reducing more visible, aggressive, expensive and ultimately disruptive security interventions. 3. The commercial private sector. Impact will be seen in UK industry being able to benefit from direct access to the published outcomes of the feasibility studies carried out through the partnership and developed both during the project period and subsequently, drawing upon the complementary expertise and the breadth of experience within the consortium across the disciplines involved To ensure that the maximum potential for impact is realized and the users and beneficiaries discussed have the opportunity to benefit from this research, several key accessible dissemination routes will be created. These include the publications (both traditional academic and more focused on the 'popular' press), open fora and conference and workshops organized to publicize the research outcome to industrial partners and academic communities. A website will be created and will be regularely updated, with the aim of informing the broader public of the direction of the work and possible outcomes. The skills of the City University Press Office will be used to underpin the work of the investigators to disseminate the results in 'non-scientific' terms to the wider public through major newspapers and the broadcast media, building on the international reputation of and contacts from City's Journalism Department.