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What is a ‘Naked Camera’ Anyway? Johan Öhgren Investigates Airport Security
Acquris IT HB

All who pass an airports security checkpoint today are forced to remove jackets, coats, computers from their cases and sometimes belts, shoes, etc. In general, it’s painstakingly slow and privacy intrusive; but it’s for the greater good and helps us keep safe.

However, one of the problems with the traditional techniques like the x-ray machine and the metal detector arches in security check point, is that it’s virtually impossible to detect non-metallic items like sharp plastic and ceramic items that could also be used as weapons carried on a person. The current way to combat this is to set the detector to go off after a slightly randomised number of people passing the arch, regardless if they carry any metal items or not.

The object is to keep officers on their toes and to be able to pat people down. The aim is to discourage terrorists or criminals to try to sneak something onboard aircrafts.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s quite easy to get through with weapons, explosives, Tazers and other dangerous items. To keep up some kind of pace in the security checks, the officers never or at least rarely stop anyone passing the metal detector if it hasn’t given off an alarm. This is an Achilles heel; we don’t get checked what we hide under our clothes unless the alarm sounds. As matter of fact, even when the detector gives an alarm, the officer sometimes misses obvious items due to intimidation factors, charm or plain laziness. On the other hand, to thoroughly check ALL passengers is both privacy intrusive and uncomfortable for everyone. Add that this will also make security controls extremely slow, and we have a nightmare scenario, and very few except maybe masochists would enjoy using the airport.

However, these facts allowed for undercover agents working for the Transportation Security Administration in USA, to cross the checkpoint at several US airports with guns, knives and improved explosive devices. In fact, when tests were carried out at Denver International Airport in 2007, in 10 per cent of the cases, the items were detected. The remaining 90 percent passed the checkpoints without even being found/detected. This was consistent with the test carried out the previous year at 15 US airports by Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

This is why there is extensive research throughout Europe and US in new technologies to aid the security screeners in combating terrorists, insurgents and criminals. One of the more promising technologies has been nicknamed ‘naked camera,’ due to its ability to see through clothes, and is based on ultra-high radio waves named THz.

Before we elaborate further on this technology, we may need to explain what this THz really is.

THz is an abbreviation of Tera Hz (1,000 GHz or 1 million MHz). Herz (abbreviated Hz) is of course a name of how fast the electromagnetic waves alternate. In a normal FM radio, we are using electromagnetic waves between 88 to 108 MHz. If we move up to between 900 to 1,900 MHz, we hit the electromagnetic waves that we use daily in our mobile phones. If we continue to 2,400 MHz or 2.4 GHz we hit the region where Wireless LAN operates. If we continue up, we will pass microwaves (as found in microwave oven) and just before we hit infrared light and normal light, we are in the THz domain. With other words, we are between radio waves and light. In this area a lot of things look different, like for example the clothes on the body. They are transparent!

This is the reason behind the IMATERA project - IMAging in the TERAherz domain. This EU research project, under the PEDEA+ umbrella, is part of EUREKA within the EU, aims to address this problem.

The difference in the IMATERA projects, compared to other ‘naked camera’ techniques, is that we work in higher frequency, in real time and in room temperature. All of this together gives a higher resolution image of what is hidden underneath the clothes a person is wearing, down to a size of some mm.

With all this power, the IMATERA projects have also addressed invasion of privacy issues, which many other projects forget. Instead, the system will automatically detect a suspicious object, and present the outline on top of a normal video image on the monitor. This way, the machine could also be used in orthodox Muslim countries since the device won’t cause any religious or integrity problems. With this approach, the machine can also allow for automated security checkpoints at lower security areas like a sports arena.

The research part in the IMATERA project stretches until 2011 and a device based on this technology will probably be available on the market around 2012-2015.

The possibility doesn’t end there. Thanks to the research that goes on, there is also the possibility to use the technology in shops and banks. The problem with using this type of camera in a shop is obvious; the camera sees through the clothes, but doesn’t give out any pictures due to privacy reasons, even though in a shop or a bank, we want pictures. On the other hand, we are not really interested in what’s hidden below the neck. And we are not either interested in people that don’t have any facial disguise. What is interesting is to peer behind a facial disguise of a robber.

With other words, we need “X-ray” glasses that don’t reveal the normal customer’s anatomical details, only the robber’s face behind a facial disguise.

This is the background to a Swedish national project within the Swedish Defense Research Agency, FOI, together with an industrial partner. The aim is to use the sensor from the IMATERA project and pair it with a camera surveillance system.

Also in this project, the privacy issues have been addressed, so we don’t accidently reveal a Muslim woman’s face behind a Burqa.

The beauty of this project is that the lab results are not only theoretical, but it provides actual positive results in the research part, proving that not only can this type of camera see though masks, hoods and knitted ski-masks, it can also see through motor cycle helmets. In other words, it will once more make life very difficult for criminals, thus evening out the odds. The by-products of this project are that the normal camera surveillance can also auto-track a suspect, and can also provide automatic assault alarms due to waving of weapons, forcing staff to lie down, etc.

So, when can these products hit the market?

This depends on obstacles to the project; however it’s possible that a camera system with this feature can be out on the market next year. It mostly depends on the number of man-hours which is linked to the funding that can be drummed up.

Biography

Johan Öhgren is the owner of Acquris IT HB. Acquris is one of a few companies that handle the complete chain, from developing to fabrication to installation of both overt and covert camera surveillance system. Mr. Öhgren is the Swedish National Co-ordinator in the IMATERA project, and also heads the industrial part of the FOI project.

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