T R A N S C R I P T

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Suicide Box The Bureau of Inverse Technology has developed Suicide Box, a motion analysis system currently in test deployment in range of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, USA. The vertical motion-triggered device is designed to capture a video record of anything that falls from the bridge. A recent trial period activation yielded 17 events in 100 days. The Bureau has implemented this study without the knowledge of the bridge authorities.

Statistical Veritability: Some Data The BIT test period produced a rate equivalent to 0.17 suicides per day. This compares to the 0.13 rate calculated using Port Authority data averaged over the past two years. The test figures are not definitive, but, given that the Bureau has not yet implemented the neuromorphic sensors for detection in low visibility, realistic estimates of the discrepancy are on a factor of five times too small. Considering the effects of low visibility, the event rate is 0.68 suicides per day. Data captured by the Suicide Box provide an increasingly accurate measure of a social phenomena not previously adequately quantified. Using this data the Bureau has developed a new economic indicator, the Despondency Index. Dynamically updated to the Down Jones Industrial at each bridge occurrence, the Despondency Index brings the BIT data in line with the micro-attention given to market indicators. < back | next > Page:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |  12