Wrong Way Technology
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) is testing how technology called XControl from ADT Security Services monitors the direction of pedestrian traffic exiting from airport terminals. Traffic in these areas, of course, moves only in one direction — out of the secured terminal and into an unsecured airport concourse.
Designed to expand or contract to fit the opening at a terminal’s exit, the XControl is a rectangular structure, with two piers or pillars connected by a crosspiece. ADT has installed directional Doppler Microwave, optical detectors and video surveillance technologies inside the structural components of the device. Together, the three technologies sense the direction people are moving and triggers a response.
When someone or something moves the wrong way, the XControl sets off two alarms. A “Do Not Enter” sign mounted on the crosspiece begins to flash. A voice message comes out of speakers built into the device: “Do not enter.” An event also triggers the video surveillance system, which records digital video for instant replay. An optional XControl interface can stop baggage X-ray belts in the baggage return area when an intrusion is detected.
Sea-Tac is testing the ADT device in two of the airport’s seven terminal exit corridors. In a third corridor, an airport contractor mounted directional sensing technologies into the existing exit corridor a year ago. In part, the current test aims to compare the performance of the older generic technology with that of the newer system. The older system does not include video surveillance or the capability to integrate with technology at the airport’s security center.
The test will also tune the system’s sensitivity to an appropriate level. “You do not want people in the common area corridors setting off the exit alarm by simply walking past the exit opening,” says Arif Ghouse, Sea-Tac’s chief of airport security. “Even though the equipment is fairly standard, it has to be tweaked for sensitivity and configured to fit the layouts of various terminal exits. In this regard, we are testing for false alarm rates, nuisance alarms and how useful the security officers assigned to the terminal exits find the technology.”
The primary goal of the three-month test will be to determine whether or not XControl or a similar technology enhances security at Sea-Tac. “The airport and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are working together on this,” Ghouse says. “It’s important to note that we are not conducting a test of a specific manufacturer’s device. We are testing the concept of using the technology. Is this something we should do to support security at the airport?”
Might the technology prove capable of replacing security officers typically positioned at airport terminal exits? “No,” Ghouse says. “We have no intention of removing security officers from these areas. You can’t just have a piece of technology that tells you that someone is going the wrong way and leave it at that. You have to respond.”
Ghouse notes several ways in which the technology may enhance the security provided by the officers: If an airport customer were to distract an officer with a question, an XControl alarm would redirect the officer’s attention to the exit.
The technology also helps deal with inadvertent breaches. Most travelers trying to enter a terminal through the exit have made an innocent mistake. When the alarm goes off, they look up and see that they are going the wrong way, turn around and leave. So the system relieves the officer of the need to deal with dozens of inadvertent breaches per day.
“At the end of the day, as the security chief, if I can prevent a breach, then that is great for me,” Ghouse says. “But what if the guards say that they do not really need the technology, that it does not really help them. In that case, we will have to wonder if we should spend the money.”