China Develops ‘Mindreading’ Device That Can Detect When Men Watch Porn

According to a report, Chinese researchers claim to have developed a device that can “read a man’s mind” and detect when he is watching p*rn.

P*rnography is illegal in China, where censors comb social media to search for and flag inappropriate content.

The prototype helmet is said to be able to detect brainwaves that are triggered by exposure to dirty materials, According to the South China Morning Post. The tool will help Chinese authorities enforce laws that prohibit citizens from consuming pornography.

Researchers reportedly tested the helmets on 15 male university students, who sat in front of a computer screen wearing them on their heads. Whenever a clear image was displayed, the device triggered an alarm that was believed to be set off by the detected brainwaves.

The researchers tested “p*rn police” helmets by pairing explicit images with ones that would not trigger the same brainwave response. The device will then be able to process a stream of photos and flag anything suspicious.

The Director of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Beijing Jiaotong University; Xu Jianjun, published the results of his findings in the Journal of Electronic Measurement and Instrumentation.

He called the prototype a tool “for detecting bad information.”

The device, which the researchers claim is 80% accurate, is said to be able to filter out other signals that can trigger brainwaves when people emit emotions unrelated to porn exposure.

The Chinese government maintains its crackdown on porn by deploying sensors known as “p*rn appraisers” (Jian Huang Xiao) who comb social media to flag content deemed inappropriate.

Since p*rn is illegal in China, researchers had difficulty finding enough material to be used to train the device, according to the report. The clear images obtained by the researchers had to be modified and censored to avoid violations of the law.

In 2018, it was reported that Chinese authorities offered their citizens a reward of $86,000 for spying on their fellow citizens suspected of viewing p*rnographic material.

China has reportedly invested in research for other mind-reading devices. The country’s military, also known as the People’s Liberation Army, funded the development of mind-reading helmets that allow soldiers to communicate with smart weapons.

Last year, Kernel, a California tech start-up, said it had developed a $50,000 helmet capable of analyzing neurons in the brain that could provide researchers a window into human emotions, memory, arousal, attention, and learning.