Deception Detection Tool Created by UA Regents Professor Profiled in Financial Times

Deception detection research that started with UA Regents Professor of Management Information Systems Jay Nunamaker is the subject of an August 1 article (requires subscription) in Financial Times. Nunamaker led the development of the AVATAR virtual border guard tool as part of the Center for the Management of Information in the Eller College of Management.

Nunamaker’s research and the AVATAR system are now the primary focus of Discern Science International, a startup that last year entered into a joint venture agreement with an as-yet unnamed aviation industry partner to sell the tool to airports. According to the article, Discern and the partner are testing prototypes and “will begin marketing the machines in the coming months.” Nunamaker previously tested AVATAR in Canada, Romania and at a U.S. border port in Nogales, Arizona.

Nunamaker, who is also the Soldwedel Chair in Management Information Systems, has been at the Eller College since 1974, when he founded Eller’s top-ranked MIS department. His areas of expertise include collaboration technology, decision support and decision centers.