Airport Security and Passenger Flow Solutions

Human Recognition Systems (HRS) has been awarded the first prize in the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism’s INSTINCT Technology Demonstrator 2 (TD2) project, receiving a winning prize fund of £30,000 to let the company to continue developing cutting edge products.

The aim of the Home Office-sponsored TD2 project focused on finding new technologies, systems and ideas to enhance aviation security and passenger experiences, while potentially helping to increase airport revenues.

HRS was selected for its winning technology by an independent review panel after the live trials and TD2 Showcase event results were assessed.

“One of the aims we set out for the TD2 project was to bring to light innovation and concepts from small enterprises and academia that would not normally be seen until much more mature,” said Sam Keayes, MD of Thales, National Security & Resilience (NS&R) Business.

As a result of very strong competition from hundreds of entrants, the selection panel had a difficult job selecting the winning company.

“HRS  in partnership with SRI International's 'Biometrics In Motion' iris recognition solution was trialled live at a UK airport and then demonstrated at the TD2 showcase where it attracted significant interest from the aviation industry and government agencies,” said Sam.

"We congratulate HRS on winning this prize and we hope that the relationships they have forged during the TD2 process will lead to this technology being deployed in the airports of the future.”

Neil Norman, CEO of HRS is thrilled with the triumph, saying:

“This is a prestigious competition so in conjunction with our partner SRI International, we're delighted to be recognised for our pioneering work and its many benefits to aviation security and customer experience. But I can't take all the glory – we're lucky enough to have a team of great experts and we love what we do.

“We're also very pleased about being able to invest our prize funds into bringing ideas to life and making them viable and beneficial to the commercial world.”

During the TD2 project over 40 technologies were selected to be at the TD2 Showcase event, held at the Thales Crawley site in December 2010. Around 20 of the selected companies also carried out live trials at some of the UK’s busiest airports to show how their technologies could potentially be integrated in the airports of the future.

The UK Home Office INSTINCT Programme aims to identify – and trial – innovative technologies, solutions or ideas, from any sized business or academic institution that could enhance security in the future.  The December showcase  is one of many which allows selected demonstrators to meet face to face with key decision makers and purchasers from across security industries.

Support to develop technologies, solutions or ideas into real products that can be quickly implemented within the aviation security environment is a key deliverable for the INSTINCT-TD2 project, as is the awareness of these ‘products’ and their capabilities by the airport, airline and security authorities and companies worldwide.
 

For more information and to organise media interviews, please contact:
Tori Hywel-Davies
HRS media relations manager
+44 (0)7850 530006 or +44 (0)151 254 6878

tori.hywel-davies@mohawk-media.com