If you’re tired of those long security lines and the nerve-wracking bag checks at the airport, there may be good news in the offing for you: The U.S. Homeland Security Department and TSA have let a contract for a prototype self-service scanner.
The system would replace the long conveyor belts and lines with a series of individual booths—the developers say they can fit seven of them where two lines now operate. Passengers would enter a booth, put their bags in a scanning bin and face their own scanner. When all is clear, they will simply take their bags and go. The system will alert when something is questionable in the scan so it can be fixed on the spot.
The work is being done by Australia’s Monash University Design Health Collab and an Australian tech company, Micro-X; the working prototype is due at TSA within about 8 months. If TSA is satisfied, the developers believe it could be ready for prime time in about another year after that.
