The Advanced Technologies for Airport Security (ATAS) conference dealt a lot with the whys and hows of the latest in airport security technology. But what, exactly, can this new technology accomplish? Some insights ...

One technology that stirred some buzz was video analytics.

“We need to have proactive security that can look forward of events, rather than being used for forensics,” says Brooks McChesney, founder and chief client executive at Vidient, a video analytics and appliances company.

McChesney says current closed-circuit television systems (CCTV) take “too many cameras, too many screens and not enough people to watch them.” He notes that studies have found guards can effectively watch security cameras for only 20 minutes at a time.

Video analytics use software algorithms that can detect things like unattended baggage and vehicles parked in the wrong place. When something is spotted by the technology, McChesney explains, the system alerts guards of specifics on the monitor, via email or through messages to a PDA or cell phone.

“That would free your guards,” McChesney says.

With video analytics, he says, “the cameras are always monitored, your resisting infrastructure is always leveraged.

“It integrates all the sensors, has a security policy engine that’s configured to the needs of the airport, displays it either in its own interface, or integrates with other systems like Proximex, and enables access to the system anywhere on the network.”

Thermal imaging
Another technology that dovetails well with video analytics and is not commonly understood is thermal imaging.