US airline passengers may soon avoid the cumbersome ritual of removing their shoes before boarding flights, due to technology developed by an Energy Department lab and licensed to a commercial manufacturer, the department said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2021) US airline passengers may soon avoid the cumbersome ritual of removing their shoes before boarding flights, due to technology developed by an Energy Department lab and licensed to a commercial manufacturer, the department said on Tuesday.
"The Shoe Scanner uses the HD-AIT [High Definition - Advanced Imaging Technology] ... to penetrate footwear without the passenger having to remove shoes for screeners to detect concealed objects. Persons screened will step on a low-profile, imaging platform for approximately two seconds while low-power electromagnetic energy is used to generate a composite image of the shoe to determine whether a threat is present," an Energy Department press release said.
The shoe scanner and HD-AIT system, which also promises to upgrade overall airport screening procedures, were developed by the Energy Department's Northwest National Laboratory. Both technologies were recently licensed to Liberty Defense Holdings for commercial development, the release said.
The HD-AIT system itself offers the promise that people could be screened at airports and large public events without having to remove outer garments such as jackets and sweaters, the release added.
The US began searching airline passengers' shoes following the unsuccessful suicide bombing attempt by terrorist Richard Reid, who failed to ignite a bomb built into his shoe during a December 2001 flight from Paris to the state of Florida.
