New-Fangled Scanner Is Being Studied as Airport Security Solution
The Qylatron, used daily at San Francisco’s Levi’s Stadium, promises better, faster security screening.
The Qylatron Entry Experience Solution is a scanner with five hexagonal pods that are intended to replace security guards who check bags for prohibited contraband at large venues.
SAN FRANCISCO – An Israeli air force veteran and security consultant who specializes in suicide bombings is the creative force behind the Qylatron Entry Experience Solution, a technology that is billed as providing faster, easier and more accurate security screening.
Lisa Dolev, founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Qylur Intelligent Systems, wanted to create a better security scanner for years, according to Smithsonian.com. But watching footage of the Madrid terrorist attacks in 2004 pushed her into action. That evening, she sat down and drew a sketch of a new kind of security machine. Her hand-scrawled abstract would eventually become the Qylatron, a honeycomb-like machine of five pods that is intended to replace security guards who check bags for prohibited contraband at sports arenas, amusement parks and other large venues.
Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, is the anchor customer in the U.S. for Qylur Security Solutions and its innovative scanner. The Qylatron – designed to improve not just security, but the entry experience – is currently being used on a limited daily basis at the stadium. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Laboratory is interested in evaluating Qylur for possible use at airports.
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Here is how Smithsonian.com describes how the scanner works: A patron’s ticket is scanned by a barcode reader, then the person heads to an open door to one of the hexagonal pods. The person then places a bag inside, and the door locks. Inside the machine, various sensors scan the bag for weapons and other banned items. If the bag is determined to be safe, the door unlocks. If not, an alarm goes off to begin a security procedure.
Dolev is reticent when asked for details of how the scanning works. “We’re in security,” she told Smithsonian.com. But she can say that the machines use a combination of multi-view x-rays, chemical sensors and artificial intelligence.
The artificial intelligence component is, perhaps, the most unique aspect of the Qylatron. The machine’s algorithm allows it to “learn” about different objects, making it better at distinguishing threats from ordinary items. For example, a Qylatron in a rainy city might quickly learn the shape of an umbrella.
The Qylatron can also communicate with “peer” machines around the globe to enhance its learning. Peers might include airport security systems or subway security scanners – basically, any machine that has a similar purpose and is working to detect similar threats.
To learn more about the scanner, read the full article here or watch the video below.
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