Employers in China are giving their workers headgear that's equipped with EEG sensors that can monitor their brain waves.

The employees that are taking part in the project are working on high-speed trains, on production lines in factories, and in the military; according to a recent report from the South China Morning Post. The surveillance project technology is alleged to be the result of a government-sponsored project and the data that gets collected is going to be sorted through and ideally going to help uncover signs of anxiety, depression, or anger.

According to the companies that have adopted the program, they say that they are using the data to help them adjust their production approach and to improve workflow efficiency.

The hats or helmets etc are able to monitor the brainwaves of the person wearing the device and the data that is collected is then sent to computers that use AI to detect any sign of depression or anxiety etc. The employer is then going to respond by adjusting the position of that individual, which could mean moving them to another area or giving them a break etc.

The technology has been used by a growing number of employers for several years now, with people who work in the area of public transport, the military, in state-owned companies in China, on production lines in factories, and other areas, having their brainwaves monitored while on the job.

It's alleged that this technology is already being used in dozens of different businesses and factories.

Those who have adopted the technology have suggested that they've seen the benefits firsthand and claim that it can help to boost productivity and efficiency. Though not everyone agrees and some are skeptical of the reliability of the results from this sort of EEG headgear technology.

For some who've already used the technology they have admitted that workers at first were nervous about trying the technology and they assumed that it would be able to read their mind. Over time however, they came to embrace it and now many are wearing it all day while at work.

Would you want your brainwaves monitored while at work?

We may live with some expectation of privacy while at home but we cannot enter the workplace with the same expectation, can we? And laws which supposedly protect that privacy are not absolute.

We have seen employers come out with a variety of controversial technology adoptions, whether it's making their workers scan their face, their fingers, or have their brainwaves monitored and it's said to be done for work-related purposes. Similar to how some companies will hire private security, or use drones, install security cameras etc, to keep an eye on workers and possibly boost overall workplace efficiency and productivity. But having people put on helmets that monitor their brain all day long might be a bit much, especially if the results are less than highly reliable.

We can only wonder whether or not this program might have come about if it weren't for all of the government funding trying to push it forward to full realization.

Pics:
Pixabay

Sources:
https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/611052/with-brain-scanning-hats-china-signals-it-has-no-interest-in-workers-privacy/
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2143899/forget-facebook-leak-china-mining-data-directly-workers-brains
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/268668-chinese-firm-claims-it-scans-workers-brainwaves-to-boost-earnings
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/1/17306604/china-brain-surveillance-workers-hats-data-eeg-neuroscience
https://www.fastcompany.com/40565528/china-is-now-monitoring-employees-brainwaves-and-emotions