The world's first commercial real-time concealed weapons detection camera, the Brijot Imaging Systems Weapons Detection System (BIS-WDS™ Prime), uses passive millimeter wave sensor technology developed by Lockheed Martin. Camera system detects guns, knives, or bombs, whether metal, plastic, or composite. It consists of a millimeter wave camera combined with a video camera and special algorithm software that can interface to other security devices such as door entry systems, video surveillance systems, and complex security monitoring networks.
Real-time video outputs eliminate privacy issues, providing visual identification of where a suspicious item is located on a person and electronic alarm notification signaling, identifying up to 50 threats simultaneously. With no harmful rays, the camera system is completely passive; it has a range up to 45 ft in distance with lens options.
BIS-WDS Prime enables "stand-off" security assessment: there is no need for the person being imaged to stand still or cooperate. The system is always on, monitoring all persons in its viewing range and thus eliminating racial profiling.
The BIS-WDS™ Prime system's millimeter wave component is a radiometer, which images the millimeter wave "signature" of objects. The millimeter wave signature, also known as blackbody radiation, is made up of two properties: emissivity and reflectivity. Everything in the universe has a millimeter wave signature, whether living, inorganic, naturally occurring, or manmade material. The system images these millimeter wave signatures and processes them via its sophisticated software algorithms, then compares these images to its database of known guns, knives, and assault rifles made of such materials as metals, plastics, composites, or ceramics. If the system can positively identify a gun, knife, or assault rifle, it will display a "classification warning" indication. If the image is not a known weapon in the database, but is still of a significant size and millimeter wave signature, the system will display a "detection warning" indication. These warnings occur in real-time, 3/10 second or less, on a full motion video image of the person, indicating where the item is located.
To effectively image the differences in millimeter wave signatures passively -- without radiating a person -- as well as operate both indoors and outdoors, Brijot developed extremely sensitive sensors, achieving a total system level sensitivity that can distinguish a 1 deg Kelvin difference in millimeter wave signatures. Other engineering advances include that the BIS-WDS Prime standard model utilizes only 16 sensors to deliver a 6 x 3 ft imaged area at focal points of 10, 20, or 30 ft, accomplished by incorporating sophisticated software algorithms that significantly enhance the image resolution. The BIS-WDS Prime measures 13 in. wide, 17.9 in. deep, and 27.8 in. high, so it can be wall-mounted or deployed virtually anywhere.
Brijot holds the exclusive license to Lockheed Martin's passive millimeter wave sensor technology for commercial applications.
