A new technology may allow guards to spot someone with a concealed bomb — or someone simply walking like a bomber:
A new radar-imaging technology expected to reach market later this year could solve the problem by directing low-power radar beams at people–who can be 50 yards or more away — and analyzing reflected radar returns to reveal concealed objects. And early research indicates that this method could one day be augmented with video-analysis software that spots bombers by discerning subtle differences in gait that occur when people carry heavy objects.
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The first generation of the CounterBomber works by continuously steering a low-power radar beam toward the moving subject. The radar then repeatedly “interrogates” the subject. “The characteristics of the reflected radar beam are affected by weapons hidden beneath the clothing,” Burns says. Signal processing software can detect those weapons or bombs without creating an under-the-clothes image that could violate the person’s privacy, he says.And this technology is helped by novel technology that tracks the subject — thereby enabling the radar to be continuously aimed at the moving person. Software developed by Rama Chellappa, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, uses a form of “gait recognition” to do this.