Mobile Eagle Eye Tower Systems See Threats From Above

Are You Being Watched? Raytheon's unmanned blimp at this year's INDY 500. The blimp flying above your head may be watching your every move [ctrl-click for slideshow]. Image Credit: Raytheon Company

Mobile Eagle Eye Tower Systems See Threats From Above

Of all of the vehicles one encounters at this year's largest motorsports event, one doesn't expect that the one hanging around, attached to a guide wire, quietly floating along inconspicuously, is there to watch you and the 400,000 or so enthusiasts gathered to watch the spectacle on the ground.

At this year's INDY 500, held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a new surveillance tool was deployed, tested, and passed its first major hurdle as an important part of a security and surveillance grid to be used at major crowd gatherings such as sporting events and street fairs. Street cameras, cop cars, helicopters and foot patrols are generally what this terrestrial platform helps to stitch together and develop a clearer understanding of the security challenges that exist today in an age of potential terrorism and terrorist acts.

The blimp airship developed and deployed by Raytheon features cameras and infrared sensors developed through military contracts for applications associated with battlefield surveillance is being adapted to aid in civilian applications of security and event research if a hostile act were to occur.

The fastest vehicle at the INDY 500, in terms of identifying and neutralizing a threat that would disrupt the action on the ground, may actually be hanging above the crowd, observing and sensing the action as it happens.

Raytheon developed the Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Mobile Eagle Eye tower systems (in 2007) to protect U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. The adapted civilian application of this technology is now being tested and deployed [ctrl-click for b-roll video from Newsweek]. Image Credit: Raytheon Company

This excerpted and edited from Newsweek Magazine -

Eye in the Sky: Raytheon's unmanned blimp at this year's Indy 500
By Kurt Soller | Newsweek Web Exclusive - Jun 11, 2009

At first glance, there was nothing special about the blimp floating high above the cars and crowd at this year's Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend. Like most airships, it acted as an advertising vehicle; this time for the Fisher House, a charity focused on helping injured veterans and their families. But the real promo should have been for the blimp's creator, Raytheon, the security company best known for its weapons systems. Hidden inside the 55-foot-long white balloon was a powerful surveillance camera adapted from the technology Raytheon provides the U.S. military. Essentially an unmanned drone, the blimp transmitted detailed images to the race's security officers and to Indiana police. "The airship is great because it doesn't have that Big Brother feel, or create feelings of invasiveness," says Lee Silvestre, vice president of mission innovation in Raytheon's Integrated Defense division. "But it's still a really powerful security tool."

Until recently, Raytheon's eye-in-the-sky technology was used in Afghanistan and Iraq to guard American military bases, working as airborne guards against any oncoming desert threat. Using infrared sensors and a map overlay not unlike Google Earth, the technology scans a large area, setting important landmarks (say, the perimeter of a military base), and constantly relays video clips back to a command center. If a gun fires or a bomb is detonated, the airships can detect the noise and focus the camera—all from a mighty-high 500 feet.

After the success of the Indy 500 trial, the company is targeting police departments and sporting facilities that want to keep an eye on crowds that might easily morph into an unruly mob. "Large municipalities could find many uses for this [technology] once we figure out how to get it in their hands," says Nathan Kennedy, the blimp's project manager.

For now, cost might be the only thing preventing a blimp from appearing over your head. Raytheon won't disclose how much the system may eventually cost, but chances are it won't be cheap. For municipalities without a Pentagon-size police budget, the blimps' potential to display ads may assist with financing. Raytheon says local authorities could install a built-in LED screen to attract sponsors, generate revenue and defer operating costs.
Reference Here>>

So, when it feels like someone is watching you ... look up and smile, you are being watched by that blimp advertising the money you could have saved by switching to ... Geico!

Tapping Into A New Vein On Biometrics

The vein patterns of each finger are unique, so each individual can register multiple fingers as "back-up" for authentication purposes. Registration is possible even for sweaty, oily or dirty fingers. Image Credit: HANDS in the NEWS

Tapping Into A New Vein On Biometrics

The growth in world of biometric authentication for access and security has been a slow and sometimes uncomfortable process. Most people do not feel happy about standing in front of a camera-like device, adjusting their position so that the device can take an image of the iris pattern of their eye for example … the process is invasive and cumbersome at best.

Fingerprint senseing technology has come a long way with its swipe and go approach … but, again, this process has the problem of a CSI routine in that fingerprints and their databases are used in the legal/criminal as a main marker for identification – the process just doesn’t feel right and it too is somewhat invasive.

Great strides have been made in the arena of using near-infrared light lights and filters to discern blood vessel vein patterns under the skin … a marker all humans share and (the patterns as to how they are located in the body) are about as different and unique as a fingerprint.

The first systems to use this approach were pioneered in Korea (BK Systems) and looked at the backside of a whole hand. This process was very good and fast – less than a half a second for authentication. The equipment, however, was large and expensive.

As with all things technological, efficiencies make processes smaller and more effective. Hitachi is the leader in downsizing the vein identification process to a simple single finger scan for authentication and it has been widely accepted as a standard for use with banking applications in Japan.

As near infrared light generated by Bank of LEDs (light emitting diodes) penetrates the body tissue, it is reflected in the hemoglobin in the blood. A CCD (charge coupled device) camera (which uses a small, rectangular piece of silicon to receive incoming light) captures the image of the vein pattern through this reflected light. Image processing constructs a finger vein pattern from the camera image. This pattern is compressed and digitized so that it can be registered as a template or digitized image that it compares to the stored template of the user, and determines whether there is a match, using patter-matching techniques. The actual algorithms used in the process differ from vendor to vendor. Image Credit: HANDS in the NEWS

This excerpted and edited from Times Online -

Why veins could replace fingerprints and retinas as most secure form of ID
Mike Harvey, Technology Correspondent – Times Online, Nov. 11, 2008

Forget fingerprinting. Companies in Europe have begun to roll out an advanced biometric system from Japan that identifies people from the unique patterns of veins inside their fingers.

Finger vein authentication, introduced widely by Japanese banks in the last two years, is claimed to be the fastest and most secure biometric method. Developed by Hitachi, it verifies a person's identity based on the lattice work of minute blood vessels under the skin.
----
In Japan, thousands of cash machines are operated by finger vein technology.

Hitachi's VeinID Biometric Authentication technology is one of the most advanced biometric identification technologies. Hitachi's Finger Vein attesting technology identifies finger vein patterns that exist inside the human body, eliminating tampering while increasing reliability and security and, as everyone's finger vein pattern is individual, it provides an ideal identification method without being intrusive. Image Credit: HANDS in the NEWS
----
The pattern of blood vessels is captured by transmitting near-infrared light at different angles through the finger, usually the middle finger. This can be done in a small instrument attached to a wall or as part of an ATM machine. The light is partially absorbed by hemoglobin in the veins and the pattern is captured by a camera as a unique 3D finger vein profile. This is turned into a simple digital code which is then matched with a pre-registered profile to verify an individual's identity. Even twins are said to have different finger vein patterns.

Hitachi claims that because the veins are inside the body, invisible to the eye, it is extremely difficult to forge and impossible to manipulate. While fingerprints can be "lifted" and retinas scanned without an individual realizing it, it is extremely unlikely that people's finger vein profiles can be taken without them being aware of it, the company says.

The gruesome possibility that criminals may hack off a finger has already been discounted by Hitachi's scientists. Asked if authentication could be "forged" with a severed finger, the company says: "As blood would flow out of a disconnected finger, authentication would no longer be possible."
Reference Here>>