QinetiQ shows SPO stand-off threat detection system in Australia
Above: QinetiQ's Colin Cameron with SPO-7R.
Hosted by the Australian Attorney-General's Department, hundreds of Australian Government agency security advisers and private sector security practitioners will get their first up close look at SPO-7R and learn about QinetiQ’s plans for the next generation SPO-NX that will be available in early 2016.
The SPO series of Passive Millimetre Wave (PMMW) scanners are used to identify security threats in densely populated locations, such as bus, ferry, rail or airport terminals. Each scanning unit works passively by sensing naturally occurring energy from individuals and the objects they are carrying. This signature information is processed to detect suspicious items around their person. Suspicious objects trigger a red threat bar response on the user display, prompting the operator to search the individual or initiate further security protocols.
Will Taylor, QinetiQ Australia General Manager for Government, Technology and Industry, said: “We are excited to show this technology for the first time to an Australian audience. We believe SPO has many potential applications in the security market here because it requires no special infrastructure, can be deployed virtually anywhere and set-up by one operator in less than five minutes and it does not impede or slow the flow pedestrian traffic. SPO can screen a moving person in less than two to three seconds.”
Colin Cameron, technical project lead for the SPO series of sensors, who is demonstrating the system throughout SiG 2015, said: “The SPO system is passive, doesn’t emit any radiation and never creates or displays an image of bodily characteristics beneath a person’s clothing alleviating privacy concerns. What the operator sees on the screen is real-time video footage with a red-to-green overlay. Green is when no threat is present and red indicates where a potential threat might be concealed.”
The introduction of SPO into Australia is complementary to QinetiQ Australia’s existing security and safety consulting line of business that specialises in providing protective security, security risk assessments, security assurance, national security, security technology systems and Work Health and Safety advisory services to Australian Government agencies and entities.
QinetiQ Australia has been attending SiG since 2013 and is one of more than 90 security-related service providers exhibiting at the conference.
