Page 104 - Mariners Cricket Club (Singapore) - Souvenir Magazine 2020
P. 104
for walk-through thermal-screening cameras,
which operate by detecting heat emanating
from a person’s body and then estimating its
core temperature. The idea with both devices
is to detect people with fevers who might be
infected with COVID-19. Airlines have asked
the U.S. government for temperature screenings
at airports to keep passengers safer and make
them more confi dent about fl ying.
Experts, including the World Health
Organization, point out that these scanners
Instead of handing over your passport or ticket, will miss asymptomatic individuals who have
you may get your face scanned with a biometric COVID-19 and those infected who have not
device. Most use sensors that let a person’s developed a fever.
unique features — the curve of an ear, the shape A new device called Symptom Sense could give
of a forehead — prove their identity. While airlines a better idea of a passenger’s health status
airlines like Delta, Air France, and JetBlue had than a temperature reading. The contraption
started to roll out biometric boarding processes looks and works like the metal-detector gate
before the pandemic, O’Connor says that travellers walk through on the way to their
interest is up from other airlines and airports. fl ights. In five seconds (and without physical
And even though face-recognition tools were contact), it gathers a passenger’s temperature,
created before face masks became prevalent, he blood-oxygen levels, heart rate, and respiration
says the technology can still identify passengers rates.
with their mugs half-covered.
Derek Peterson, the CEO of Soter Technologies,
While these technologies promise to make travel the company behind Symptom Sense, says that
safer, they could threaten information security if the tech launched in June and he’s already in
not protected against data breaches. talks with the airports, airlines, and the TSA
It’s not just the boarding process that’s slipping about adding the device to check passengers’
into future: self-service kiosks, bag drop-offs, vitals as part of screening procedures.
and gates are also getting a biometric boost “We’re basically emulating a doctor’s visit,”
to minimize interactions between staff and Peterson says.
travellers and to reduce the number of times
you’ll need to whip out your identifi cation. That might even mean passengers get disinfected
upon arrival. Upon landing at the Hong Kong
International Airport, future visitors may have
to step into a negative pressure pod that looks
like a cross between a sci-fi space capsule and
a small elevator. The contraption, called the
CLeanTech, performs a 40-second treatment
with “nano needles,” photocatalyst technology,
and a sanitizing spray, all meant to protect
travellers and airport staff from potential viral
infections. The device was being tested earlier
this year; airport spokespeople say it may be in
widespread use by 2021.
Health screenings to be the norm Mobile apps help travel go touchless
Health screenings might become part of the Passengers have used smartphones for more
touchless airport experience, too. Most people than a decade to check into fl ights, figure out if
have seen images of passengers getting their they’ll miss quick-turn connections, or switch
temperature taken with handheld thermometer seats. But mobile devices will become even more
wands. But increasingly, airports are opting prominent now.
Mariners ’ Crick et Club (Singapor e ) 104
Mariners’ Cricket Club (Singapore)
104
