ABSTRACT
A number of research programmes have been designed to investigate the possibility of detecting hostile intent. The notion that each individual, be it an insect, human or any other species, secretes a characteristic 'blend' of volatile chemicals, has attracted the attention of the research community. Should an alarm pheromone be discovered and characterised from human sweat it would pave the way for the development of detection devices to determine the presence and concentration of such a compound in an individual's odour. Suspect Detection Systems, an Israeli company, has been testing Cogito, an expert system aimed at detecting individuals who may have terrorist intentions. Commercial companies have also developed systems for the detection of hostile intent. The hostile intent study progressed through three stages: pre-trial preparation, baseline data collection, and the main study that contained two traverses of the shopping mall.
