Taiwan buys 1st high-tech polygraph chair from U.S.

The Taichung District Prosecutors Office recently purchased the chair from Indiana-based Lafayette Instrument Co., a major manufacturer of polygraph instrumentation and equipment, the reports said on Thursday.

“The equipment is designed to be highly sensitive and it can detect very small physical reactions,” said Lee Chin-ming, an investigator at the prosecutor's office and one of Taiwan's few polygraph experts.

“When one tells the truth, his or her physical reactions will be stable. If one tells a lie, you will immediately see a change in the reactions,” he noted.

Lee said that both the Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Justice have polygraph chairs, but the sensor is either in the seat or foot pad, and suspects often move their bodies when sitting on the chair to affect the test results.

There are three sensors — in the seat, arms and the foot pad — of the new polygraph chair, which will minimize the impact of these deliberate moves, Lee said.

The new chair's sensors will be attached to the subject's chest, abdomen, fingers and feet, and the computer screen will show changes in breathing, the nerve system or heart beat, the reports said.

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