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Governments study kiosks for visitor screening at border crossings

May 17, 2018

Governments are paying closer attention to border-crossing kiosks equipped with virtual agents that conduct visitor screenings, according to CNBC. The need to alleviate delays at border crossings came to light last month when migrants at the U.S. Mexico border were delayed because the port of entry near San Diego was at full capacity.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Canadian government and the European Union have tested a kiosk that uses a virtual agent to question travelers at border crossings.

Aaron Elkins, one of the developers of the system and an assistant professor at the San Diego State University, said the technology also has broader applications than border crossings, even though the product that the U.S. government has studied, the Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-Time, known as AVATAR, is not a commercial product. He said the kiosk could be used for human resources screening.