New security measures may seem extreme

Dec 3, 2008 16:29 GMT  ·  By

Very soon, metal detectors in airports could become only an addition, if at all, to the high-tech threat identifying systems currently being developed, enhanced or already in use. We've already talked today about the mood detecting software, while, just recently, we also discussed the matter of those scanners that would show us without our clothes on. However, technicians and security experts are bent on taking the safety issues to even higher standards by designing more sophisticated and – they claim – less intrusive detectors.

 

Instead of detecting the content of your luggage or the weapons you might carry, the new technology relies on detecting your intents, as well as your unconscious reaction to certain stimuli, such as the image of Osama bin Laden. Don't worry, you won't even notice that you've been exposed to the words "Islamic Jihad" written in Arabic while gazing at the departures board, but the sensors will detect a change in your breathing and cardiac rhythm or body temperature.

 

WeCU Technologies (worryingly pronounced "We See You") uses a blend of remote sensors, infrared techniques and subliminal stimuli to determine your intent, but with hopes that, this way, you'll be out from the security checkpoint within half a minute. "I believe that we introduce a new layer in security," shares Ehud Givon, CEO of WeCU, quoted by CNN. "This is something that couldn't be done in the past: finding the connection between a certain individual and the intent to harm." Other sensors placed in carpets will determine the weight of your shoes (hiker boots are more dangerous, of course).

 

A "smart seat" or a cushion stuffed with stealth biometric sensors will enhance the details of the big picture. Another Israeli technology company, Nemesysco, has implemented devices that find out about your intents by analyzing your voice through the Layered Voice Analysis system, which allows the detection of stress, hesitation, anticipation and the like in a person's voice.

 

"The archaic system of an X-ray machine and metal detector cannot pick up other potential threats posed by passengers," explains Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International magazine. "I can have a ceramic weapon or chemical weapons and walk through an archway metal detector and it won't be picked up. Yet we have huge faith in these metal detectors that can only pick up one substance."

 

"It is possible today to hijack an aircraft using only five or six able-bodied passengers who are well-trained in Kung Fu fighting," adds Omer Laviv, CEO of the Israeli-based security company ATHENA GS3. "There is no technology in place in airports to detect a threat like that." But what if these devices become overzealous or start proving some programming failures or glitches? Would you mind spending the night in arrest?