Source: Toronto Pearson Airport

Pearson is a leader in innovation, and this is just one way we’re working to improve the travel experience.

Working with Liberty Defense, we’re testing the Hexwave portal in November, to test an enhanced security screening method that does not require a person to remove shoes, take out their electronics or remove items from their pockets.

This beta-test will help us gain insights into how the portal works in real time, what improvements might need to be made and how this could be implemented to improve security screening in the future.

The Hexwave system detects threats concealed on the body under clothes using millimeter wave technology that safely emits a low power radar signal that is a fraction of Wi-Fi. The system protects privacy by not personalizing image data, and images can never be seen by an operator. The operator only receives real-time information about threat location as people pass through the system. Hexwave does not retain the 3D radar image and only displays a standardized person outline.

If you’re around the airport, come test out the Hexwave portal yourself and help advance the future of security screening!

The Hexwave portal will be tested in three locations at Pearson between the hours of noon and 4:00 p.m.

  •  November 7 – Terminal 1, Departures Level, Transborder Non-passenger Screening (NPS)
  •  November 8 to 11 – Terminal 1, Level 2 South Bridge, entrance from parking garage to terminal

This trial support’s Airport Council International World’s (ACI World) Smart Security vision. Smart Security is setting the imagination for the future of airport security with Vision 2040, which fundamentally changes the focus of passenger and cabin baggage screening and turns it to an intuitive, seamless, walk through, customer-centric system. New and innovative technology like Hexwave will be critical to improving security screening moving forward in a frictionless way.