Voight-Kampff Machine

The infamous Voight-Kampff Machine (aka the V-K or the Machine) is a briefcase-sized portable device with many working components, most notably an eye scanner and bellowing air filters. It is designed to administer an Empathy Test, measuring a subject’s biometrics and automatic biological responses to questions intended to elicit emotional responses.

Consistent negative responses would demonstrate empathy (or the reciprocal concern for another being’s feelings and well-be-ing), commonly thought absent in old Replicant models. During interrogation, the Machine tracks a variety of telltale signals, including dilation of the pupils, involuntary movement of the iris, capillary dilation in the skin (the so-called blush response), respiration, pulse rate, even body emissions of pheromones and other airborne particles.

As failure resulted in retirement, only Blade Runners were authorized and trained to operate their own finelytuned V-K machine with uncanny precision. The advanced N-9s have made V-Ks obsolete, but as many N-8s are still at large with ocular implants removed, the V-K is our last line of defense. Over 100 cross-referenced questions are often required for positive identification.