After all the touching and feeling that went down this past fall, international airlines have bee hankering for a way to get back into passengers’ good graces. This checkpoint, along with eye scanners and souped-up passports, might be the ticket.
What you’re looking at is the security checkpoint concept unveiled in Singapore by the International Air Transport Association. They’re hoping it will reduce unnecessary checks and, therefore, complaints and bad press. Passengers would be subject to a quick eye scan and review of the information carried on the chip in their passports, constituting a background check. After that, flyers would be ushered through one of three corridors based on security risk. While there, scanners will turn up any liquids or underwear bombs they might be carrying – all much less invasive than unhooking someone’s bra.
Our oh-so-beloved TSA has been working on developing a system that will be able to do about the same. As you can imagine they’re not there yet, but not for lack of trying. Governments are naturally hesitant about sharing your information. And this tech doesn’t do away with the human factor. People need to be trained not to grope people, for starters, but also to preempt how the system might be fooled. [Yahoo News]
Photo credit: AP Photo/Wong Maye-E