New camera could be breakthrough for security industry

The camera, developed by a British company called ThruVision, can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people's clothes from up to 25 meters away. It could have wide-scale military and civilian applications.

The technology for the T5000, as the camera is called, was developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency through studying research by astronomers into dying stars. It works on the basis that all people and objects emit low levels of electromagnetic radiation. The T5000 uses what Thruvision calls "passive imaging technology" to identify objects by reading these rays known as Terahertz or T-rays. Terahertz rays lie somewhere between infrared and microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum and travel through clouds and walls and different materials emit different signatures. The camera will be unveiled at a scientific exhibition sponsored by the British Home Office. Clive Beattie, the chief executive of ThruVision told Reuters :

The ability to see both metallic and non-metallic items on people out to 25 meters is certainly a key capability that will enhance any comprehensive security system.