How Long a Lie Detector Test Takes and What the Person Experiences
The most common fear before a test: “they will interrogate me for hours, wired up to sensors”. No. On EyeDetect the person sits in front of an ordinary laptop and reads statements. Here is how those 45 minutes go.
How long it takes
Three tools, three different numbers.
- EyeDetect in our Lviv office: 30–45 minutes for the test itself plus 20–30 minutes of conversation and reading the questions beforehand. About an hour and a half in total.
- VerifEye online: 10–15 minutes of testing from a phone. Report in 20 minutes.
- Classic polygraph: 2–4 hours with a pre-test interview, several series of questions and sensors.
The first 20 minutes: conversation
The examiner explains how everything works and gives you every question to read, with explanations. What counts as, for example, sexual contact and what does not. Which time period is covered. This is where you can and should ask questions. If there is an episode related to the topic, it is mentioned right away.
Five minutes: practice test
Simple statements appear on the screen, such as “2 + 2 = 4” or “I robbed a bank”. The person answers “true” or “false” with the two mouse buttons and gets used to the pace. Response time is limited, so at first there are usually a few “time expired” messages. That is normal.
30–45 minutes: the main test
Chin on the rest, hands on the mouse, eyes on the screen. The statements come one after another: several wordings for each topic, and each is repeated several times. There are short pauses between series. The person feels nothing physically: no cuff, no electrodes, only a camera above the screen.
What people actually feel: nervousness in the first minutes, then monotony. By the end of the test most people are simply tired of reading. That is exactly why we ask you to get a good night's sleep.
After the test
The algorithm calculates the result in a few minutes. The client receives the report right after the test: a score from 1 to 99 on each question and an overall conclusion. The person who took the test does not see the result unless the client decides otherwise.