03 April, 2009

Airport Body Scan

The technologies to ensure airport security have improved throughout the years. However, after the 9-11 incidents, most of the airports especially in the U.S. reverted to the basic approach i.e. to strip naked usually visitors to the U.S. Now, they have improved on that basic approach by inventing a new airport security scanner.

The scanner can see through clothing to reveal metallic and non-metallic objects, including weapons or plastic explosives. They also reveal a person's silhouette and the outlines of underwear. Currently, there are two technologies available for scanning i.e. "millimeter wave" (MMW) technology which bounces radio-frequency waves off people to construct a 3-D image within a few seconds and X-ray scanning. However, the MMW method is currently faster than the X-ray.

According to the developer of the system, the scanner intentionally blur facial features, and the security officer viewing images sits in a remote location where he or she cannot identify the passengers. The systems also delete scanned after the viewings, and have "zero storage capability." However, in the future they might have to store the image for another security reasons such as as an evident in a court case etc.

It will take much longer for the technologies to be adopted in this region due to differences in culture and also cost factor.

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