- Title: New 360 degree scanner could cut airport queues
- Date: 10th May 2016
- Summary: KFAR NETTER, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) PISTOL ON TABLE PISTOL BEING PLACED IN BELT MAN WEARING JACKET MEN WALKING THROUGH CAMERO'S EASYCHECK BODY SCREENING SYSTEM
- Embargoed: 25th May 2016 11:33
- Keywords: scanner airport scanner Ben Gurion EasyCheck airport terrorism
- Location: KFAR NETTER AND BEN GURION AIRPORT, LOD, ISRAEL / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: KFAR NETTER AND BEN GURION AIRPORT, LOD, ISRAEL / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Science
- Reuters ID: LVA0024H86CEZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Airport users could clear security more quickly using a new Israeli system which its developers say takes just two seconds to screen and detect suspicious objects and explosives.
Long queues at security checks in crowded venues are not only a burden for people but a potential target, according to the developers of the innovative walk-through screening system developed by Camero called EasyCheck.
With airport security in the spotlight after the bomb attacks in Brussels in March, countries around the world have responded with new security measures.
At a demonstration of the new system's capabilities, project manager for EasyCheck at Camero, Avishai Shaton, pulled out a pistol and an explosive pack which were detected on a man.
"I was able to stop him without having to ask everybody to stop, just the red people, the threatening people, just them to stop them, to take them to further investigation and allowing the flow of people to always continue," said Shaton from Camero's offices in Kfar Netter, in central Israel. "This way we can eliminate queues, we can eliminate harassment of people and as you saw, the people were walking normally at a normal pace," he said.
The system, which resembles the familiar magnetometer metal detector, provides a full 360-degree body scan in three dimensions on the spot, eliminating the need to select passengers for questioning or possibly a pat down, according to its developers.
Full-body scanners such as these have in the past also sparked serious human rights concerns, with some saying they are equivalent to strip searches.
EasyCheck's developers say they have managed to overcome privacy issues by using a generic avatar-like image on the screens that identifies the location of foreign objects on the body with a yellow-coloured box.
Since the potential threats of the present day aren't just from metal objects, the system can detect an array of other items, such as liquids and powders or a small explosive package.
"This explosive charge that the person had on him, which is about two hundred grams... it can take out a plane or a train quite easily," said Shaton as he pulled out an orange sachet from a vest on a man during the demonstration.
The CEO and founder of Camero, Amir Beeri, says they use ultra wide band signals that are below the noise level with very low radiation that poses virtually no health risk and most importantly, he says, meet all international safety standards.
While many would agree new security measures are necessary at entrances to many crowded venues, not just airports, Beeri says making it "easy" is the key to this happening in future.
"I really believe that if the security will be easy and will not stop the people, you can deploy it in more places, for example, in entrance of terminals, in entrance of everywhere, from critical infrastructures to entrance of buildings or entertainment," he said.
Security expert Matthew Finn, managing director of Augmentiq security consultants, said the system overcomes the limitations of existing scanners.
"What is most common in airports today is just a metal detector and people often forget what a metal detector does - it detects metal. It doesn't detect explosives so what you've shown there with the 360 technology from Israel is a piece of technology that does look at explosives not just metal," he said.
Other scanners have been developed recently which also identify explosives - one, called ExDtect can detect the presence of miniscule quantities of explosive particles invisible to the naked eye. The team behind it say it could transform airport security and would have presented the Brussels Airport bombings. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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