Qylur Security Systems, a small company that has stayed out of sight since forming in 2005, this week introduced a new checkpoint security system that allows individuals to screen their own bags while automating various other steps including ticket taking and access control.
The California-based company’s product is the Qylatron, a configurable and customizable system consisting of multiple pods that can serve several individuals simultaneously, allowing them to scan their own bags with a combination of X-Ray, trace and nuclear detection technology while also going through other steps as part of in an entry process.
Qylur expects the first commercial deployments of the system to occur early next year.
“This is not a bag scanner, it is a whole customer entry experience,” Lisa Dolev, founder and CEO of Qylur, tells HSR.
Data from the different sensors is fused together with software algorithms to improve the probability of detecting threat materials and weapons and the system can also be connected to a command and control center. Also, the integration of ticket taking and access control provides operational efficiencies.
This combination of sensor fusion, ticket taking and access control allows for the system to do risk-based screening, Dolev says.
While Qylur doesn’t do identity management, its technology can connect to the necessary databases depending on the customer and their demands, to help enhance security, Dolev says.
On the company’s website, the honeycomb-shaped Qylatron stands a little taller than a person and consists of five cells surrounding a central core.
In a video demonstration on the website, contactless readers scan individual boarding passes, then users place their bags in one of five separate pods or cells for scanning. As the Qylatron scans the contents of bags for various threats such as explosives and weapons, individuals walk through some type of body scanner or metal detector on either side of the machine, and then retrieve their bags from the opposite end of the scanning cell after they have their boarding passes read again.
The Qylatron screens bags five times faster than existing systems, and can reduce security costs with 50 percent less staffing all the while improving the customer experience, Qylur says.
Qylur already has Safety Act designation from the Department of Homeland Security for the Qylatron, giving it limited liability protection in the marketplace as a counter-terrorism product.
The announcement this week is that the Qylatron is now available commercially and in production, Dolev says.
In the immediate future, Qylur sees Brazil as a good bet for its first sales as that country prepares for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, both major international sporting events that will require a heightened security posture in certain critical infrastructures, facilities and areas.
After Brazil, Qylur sees its next set of opportunities in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, Dolev says.
In parallel to its push to market the system to private entities for event and facility security, Qylur plans to have the Qylatron go through the formal test processes for aviation security in the European Union soon, Dolev says. As resources permit, at some point the plan is for testing with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, she says.
Qylur has about 120 employees and associates, scattered around the world, including the U.S., Brazil, India and Israel. Dolev declined to give the exact number of employees.
The company’s business partners include manufacturer Flextronics [FLEX], India’s Tata Consultancy Services, and security integrator IS&DS. Dolev says that Qylur’s global partnerships give it access to international markets and enable it to take advantage of the best technology available worldwide.
The first six years of the company’s existence were spent creating the technology concept and conducting the research and development around it, Dolev says. During that time the company also built two prototypes, she says. The next 18 months or so included field trials of the first production version of the machine in various venues, including Liberty State Park near the Statue of Liberty, for checkpoint screening at Rio de Janeiro airport in Brazil, and a stadium in the U.S.
Dolev says the field tests a range of venue types because the “inspiration” for the Qylatron was “first and foremost for soft targets with mass attendance” in mind such as stadiums, arenas and amusement parks. She says the trials demonstrated that the system works as planned.
Qylur is offering the Qylatron under a subscription model that would include maintenance, field service and optimization of the system to meet customer requirements. Dolev says that if new sensor technology enters the market that is better than what is on the Qylatron, the company can replace the existing sensor or sensors.
The Qylatron include interactive digital screens on either end of the system, allowing for sponsorships to be advertised on the machine. The company also offers a traditional purchase model for the system, Dolev says.