What is "fruit machine"

n. 1 (context British English) A slot machine, especially one having spinning wheels identified with pictures of fruit. 2 (context Canada humorous English) A device developed to identify homosexual people by measuring their physical responses to different kinds of pornography.

n. a coin-operated gambling machine that produces random combinations of symbols (usually pictures of different fruits) on rotating dials; certain combinations win money for the player

"Fruit machine" is a term for a device developed in Canada that was supposed to be able to identify gay men (derogatorily referred to as " fruits"). The subjects were made to view pornography; the device then measured the diameter of the pupils of the eyes (pupillary response test), perspiration, and pulse for a supposed erotic response.

The "fruit machine" was employed in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s during a campaign to eliminate all gay men from the civil service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the military. A substantial number of workers did lose their jobs. Although funding for the "fruit machine" project was cut off in the late 1960s, the investigations continued, and the RCMP collected files on over 9,000 "suspected" gay people.

The chair employed resembled that used by dentists. It had a pulley with a camera going towards the pupils, with a black box located in front of it that displayed pictures. The pictures ranged from the mundane to sexually explicit photos of men and women. It had previously been determined that the pupils would dilate in relation to the amount of interest in the picture per the technique termed 'the pupillary response test'.

People were first led to believe that the machine's purpose was to rate stress. After knowledge of its real purpose became widespread, few people volunteered for it.

"Fruit Machine" is the second official single released by Salford band The Ting Tings in 2007. The single was limited to a 500-copy run.

The vinyl was only available for fans of The Ting Tings to buy at their live shows. Every single released had different cover art. This is because at every concert, a hundred blank seven-inch sleeves were pinned to a wall, making a canvas on which fans could create an overall piece of artwork that, once dismantled, were used as the sleeves for the singles. The making of the sleeves was also filmed and then shown in real time at each consecutive venue.

The song has a short guitar solo by vocalist and guitarist Katie White. Tremolo picking and distortion are used.

Fruit machine is a British term, referring to a slot machine.

Fruit machine may also refer to:

• An analog computer used with the Chain Home radar system during World War II
• Fruit machine (homosexuality test), a device developed in Canada that could purportedly identify homosexual people
• "Fruit Machine" (song), a 2007 single by the Ting Tings
• The Fruit Machine, a 1988 British film thriller released as Wonderland in the US