Video Game Trains Airport Security Guards

Those supposedly random security searches at the airport aren't the only things that aren't as unpredictable as they should be. A recent study of security at Los Angeles' LAX airport found that the patrols of terminals made by guards are not random or unpredictable as they should be, but instead fall into predictable paths -- the result of normal human nature to make and follow comfortable patterns. The problem is, predictability is easily exploitable by potential criminals or terrorists; randomness is not.

Enter a new simulation by Praveen Paruchuri, a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California. His software is a sort of video game for determining how random paths for security guards impact the behavior of simulated criminals. It applies so-called game theory to develop random paths through pixelated versions of LAX terminals, with each path rated according to rewards such as finding criminals, and penalties such as triggering terrorist explosions. The goal is to keep guards more alert by breaking routine -- which, for airport security, is a deadlier habit than suckling down cigarettes.

Video-game simulations of dangerous real-life situations have been used in the past to train our military. You may remember an urban warfare game for the Xbox from a few years a go called 'Full Spectrum Warrior.' That game was actually a more consumer-friendly version of a simulation that had been developed by the military to help train soldiers. Today, there are several companies contracted by the military and law enforcement to make such games, including Will Interactive, which makes a series called 'The Incident,' for training police officers on such issues as domestic violence and suicide negotiation.

This all makes 'Halo 3' look a bit trivial, don't you think?

From New Scientist Tech

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Tags: airport, security