Superman’s X-ray vision used in new security camera
by Stevie Smith - Mar 11 2008, 20:02
ThruVision security camera has X-ray vision. Credit: LoresJoBerg/Flickr.
Who needs the powers of a superhero when modern technology can provide the same end result without first having to be the sole survivor of a doomed alien planet who’s fatally allergic to Kryptonite?
Moreover, while the creators of the ThruVision security camera might not be able to shoot lasers from their eyes or leap tall buildings in a single bound, what they can do is enable security specialists to see potentially dangerous items and materials through a person’s clothing.
Effective to a range of 25 metres, the ThruVision system has been designed to aid security staff at airports, railway stations, and other public areas where security is required, and it functions by utilising ‘T-ray’ technology, which is normally used by astronomers to probe the depths of space.
The Thruvision company is eager to point out that its potentially groundbreaking security device is “totally and utterly passive,” does not exposure people to harmful radiation, or unveil sensitive body detailing while carrying out its task of seeking explosives, drugs or hidden weaponry.
From a safety point of view, the ThruVision camera uses terahertz rays, or T-rays, to scan people for dangerous items. According to Thruvision, T-rays are a form of low-level electromagnetic radiation produced by everything from living creatures to inanimate objects.
The camera is able to locate any secreted items because its T-rays are unable to pass through metal and liquid, which would duly be detected on a scanned person and returned to the operator in the form of a revealing image on the body.
“If I were to look at you in terahertz you would appear to glow like a light bulb and different objects glow less brightly or more brightly,” outlined a spokesperson for Thruvision in a BBC report. “You see a silhouette of the form but you don't see surface anatomical effects.”
The portable T5000 ThruVision camera system, which works both indoors and out, is due to be exhibited later this week by the Home Office’s scientific development branch, and has already been embraced by the Dubai Mercantile Exchange and Canary Wharf in London, England.
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