SecuriScan shoe scanner could make travel safer, security lines shorter

Huge shocker here: removing your shoes at airport security causes massive headaches and makes the wait longer for everyone. Now that we're all good with Captain Obvious' latest headline, let us point you to one prototype that's looking to solve said dilemma. SecuriScan, which has been developed by Professor Wuqiang Yang at the University of Manchester, would theoretically be able to "detect and pinpoint suspicious objects instantly," all without requiring passengers to remove their kicks. Better still, the system uses electric and magnetic sensing instead of a radiation source, which could also address safety concerns while helping you get where you're going more quickly. Moving forward, Yang hopes to develop a more advanced and realistic prototype for testing, and just in case you were doubting this guy's determination, he's also investigating a handheld version that could hastily screen abandoned luggage or packages.

[Via Physorg, image courtesy of ChangeAirportSecurity]

[OQuaTanginWann @ Oct 20th 2008 10:20PM]

But if you go through the security check point faster, how will they have time to steal your gadgets from your bag?

[Flashpoint @ Oct 20th 2008 10:26PM]

Security machines are a waste of money. I perfer the Bush Doctrine:

unrestricted warfare to systematicaly kill all aggressive Arab people with high explosive ordinance dropped from highly sophisticated aircraft.

[derX @ Oct 20th 2008 10:40PM]

OQuaTanginWann, you've gotta remember they're rigorously trained professionals. They'll find a way.

[Blackstar @ Oct 21st 2008 12:00AM]

Oh, that's nothing compared to the feeling you get when your foot powder rubs off in a cloud of white smoke and attracts the attention of every guard within 50 feet to surround you in line ready to wrestle you and your sweet smelling tootsies to the ground. Oh yeah, nothing like air travel these days.

[yuanzhoulv @ Oct 21st 2008 1:41AM]

fabulous, now what about us cyclists with those metal cleats at the bottom of the shoe (or at least the bolts thereof...)

[derX @ Oct 21st 2008 2:14AM]

Yuanzhoulv, you can drop the act. We all know that cyclist are really mobile terrorists.

They're the equivalent of GED-acquiring students in terrorist school (which isn't to say GEDs aren't anything to be proud of: they are). They pass, but just barely.

Now cycle into that unsuspecting crowd but be careful make sure the sidewalk isn't to high.

I personally recommend to the TWA (I'm sure this isn't the right agency, but really, I could care less) that cyclists be arrested on site. If you have bike, why fly in a plane? COMMIT TO IT. Cycle from San Francisco to London. I don't wanna hear about "bodies of water." Show ingenuity. Make it work.

If my string of posts haven't made it abundantly clear, I'll explicitly state it: I need to get to bed and get the hell away from this keyboard. But typing is just soooooo addictive. Yeah, I'm probably just going to stop typing in the middle of a sentence. I stumbled upon a book in the attic (which is a lie, I have no attic) and in it was the secret to life. It's pretty simple. We live to

[Cybergypsy @ Oct 20th 2008 10:23PM]

They will find a way

[Flashpoint @ Oct 20th 2008 10:41PM]

If I was a suicide bomber, I'd have myself surgicaly cut open and packed with explosives. Then I'd have a single fuse hidden in my armpit.

Then I get on the plane...

[lorddshadow @ Oct 20th 2008 11:21PM]

@ Flashpoint

or you could just pull a joker and stuff it in someone else and remotely detonate it. although that goes against the suicide idea but more casualties for the cause. oh and i'll have to report you to the authorities right now. *lights up bat signal*




yes i am obsessed with the dark knight. *sigh*

[derX @ Oct 21st 2008 2:16AM]

Flashpoint, I'm pretty sure you've just earned yourself a cozy spot on the FBI watch list.

[Aguiluz @ Oct 20th 2008 10:23PM]

Lol, reminds me of a year ago at the Narita Japan Airport where one person shown his big black dead toenail after removing his shoe.

I slapped my brother at the back not to stare at it.

[Ram Bhagwat @ Oct 20th 2008 10:31PM]

The funny thing is that the bad guys are never going to make use of shoes to carry any weapons or whatever (with such advanced gadgets to detect ..!!). They must be busy researching what they can make bad use of in future, a spectacle or may be a watch ..!! We will all find out when it actually happens ..

[zephead @ Oct 20th 2008 10:40PM]

Earl, throw your shoes! If they don't blow up, you get to go to the front of the line!

[Miguel @ Oct 20th 2008 10:49PM]

As much as I know it's a symbolic security measure rather than adding any real security to flights...am I the only one who doesn't find the shoe thing massively inconvenient? It doesn't even add 30 seconds to my pass through. Probably adds closer to 10 seconds. Is everybody else at a five-year-old's level with shoe removal?

[Valicore @ Oct 20th 2008 11:10PM]

I'm with you on that, I fly a lot so I know the routine, shoes off put in bin proceed with your life on the other side of the x-ray machine. I would say what is truly massively inconvenient are the dumbasses with ginormous bags that should've been checked trying to get through security.

[c-dub @ Oct 21st 2008 1:07AM]

+1..I travel alot myself, and Im always amazed at how many ppl take FOREVER to put their crap in a tray..Im like its not rocket science, GEEZUS CRISTO!! Then you have these crazy ass soccer moms w/ their kids and their 5 carry ons and ALL of them have shoes on, so you have to wait on them to unlace, and take em off, put in a bin....GRRR

rant over..

Yes this would be a GOD send..

[AL @ Oct 21st 2008 2:28AM]

One person, maybe 10 seconds. Add a hundred people in the line, whack in a few infrequent travellers who don't know the shoe process and you get a lot of time that can be clawed back. And don't forget, it's not only the taking the shoes off that causes the delay, it's putting the thing back on. When you have laces, it sucks (not everyone wears slip-on shoes) - I have to juggle getting my shoes off, getting my laptop out of the bag, taking off my jacket, etc. then you have to put everything back in place. I've flown enough to have got it down to an efficient process, but it's just a pain in the ass. Places like LAX or Atlanta where there can be long queues can be frustrating.

If there's one less thing to do at the security checkpoint, it's got to be better than it is now.

[Nouman @ Oct 20th 2008 11:13PM]

"Warning: if you have screws in your feet, DON'T GET NEAR HERE"

Surprisingly, I know a few people who have gotten screws in their feet from past surgeries.

[Devin Willis @ Oct 20th 2008 11:18PM]

The current system is long and many times ineffective As long as there are people like Professor Wuqiang Yang and other like minded good people keeping us ahead of the bad guys. This could save a lot of time at the airports and keep us safer as we travel.

[Virtuous @ Oct 20th 2008 11:45PM]

What passes in this country as security is a total joke!

[EricC @ Oct 21st 2008 12:06AM]

Security in our skies is no product of this dog & pony show the TSA puts on. It is a product of what happened to Richard Reid (the "shoe bomber") when he tried to pull his stunt, and what has happened to countless clowns who, while not actually being terrorists, pulled some stupid stunts mid-air and were dispatched quickly by the passengers and flight crew.

Terrorists aren't stupid. They're not going to use planes again. They know that if they even LOOK like they're about to make a move, some 300lb football player or nightclub bouncer is going to shove a size 15 so far up their asses they'll be flossing with the laces for weeks. The TSA will take credit for this increase in security (and likely use it to build an even more elaborate dog & pony show), but in the end it is us -- the average citizens -- who wield the power over terror in our skies.

[Dave @ Oct 21st 2008 2:19AM]

"...but in the end it is us -- the average citizens -- who wield the power over terror in our skies."

Yeah--but the average citizen is afraid of shoes.

[Jinto @ Oct 21st 2008 1:09AM]

HEY, ENGADGET!

Sorry about shouting, but I needed to get your attention. In your spam - I mean post - about Lala, you put a wrong word there.

But really, why can't we comment there? That's stupid. I would like to be able to comment on the service, if I use it, how I like the prices, and so on. So, yea. Turn the comments back on. And get a spell checker that can check context ^^


"But even tough they can't be downloaded"

[Miguel @ Oct 21st 2008 2:25AM]

Might be part of their deal with Ross Rubin (the non-Engadget writer who contributes "Switched On") to disable comments. In that case, cool; we should be thankful for the content and understand AOL Tech/Weblogs Inc.'s obligations. It is, all the same, a little irritating. Autoblog (also Weblogs Inc.) has a third-party writer (John McElroy) contributing "Autoline", and the comments are left open on THOSE posts.

[Robin Jacobs @ Oct 21st 2008 2:46AM]

"Yang hopes to develop a more advanced and realistic prototype for testing", It seems he is a bit too late. Shoe scanners are already installed in airports of Brussels, Tel-Aviv and Barcelona. For those that can read Spanish, you can read about it here: http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=553449&idseccio_PK=1022

[dBs @ Oct 21st 2008 3:00AM]

I'm taking a guess, but I suspect it reads the dielectric constant change of different materials and to thwart false positives uses the magnetic signature of the material as well?

[bacon @ Oct 21st 2008 3:56AM]

what takes longer for me is not taking off and putting back on my shoes, but taking out my electronics: laptop, digital camera, digital camcorder, etc. then having to put it back in my bag ;/

[Bryce @ Oct 21st 2008 5:34AM]

Does it scan butt holes too? I refuse to fly until they start scanning butt holes.

[JMulder @ Oct 21st 2008 11:08AM]

Funny. I feel exactly the opposite and refuse to fly IF they start scanning butt holes.

I thought Atlanta already had shoe scanners...you put your shoe (with foot in it) on the box, and if it lights up, you need to take your shoes off.

[Wwhat @ Oct 21st 2008 12:58PM]

Don't they sell transparent shoes for airtravel yet?