Airport Monitoring System Combines RFID With Video

In the future, when the system is on the market or a specific customer requests it, security officials could use Optag in combination with facial-recognition software. Still, this step is beyond the scope of the current project. Optag will be able to provide the real-time location of individual passengers, analyze traffic and the behavior of individuals, and observe and record suspicious behavior.

Brennan says that using Optag to increase security is more challenging than it would be to use it for raising an airport's efficiency, or for improving safety.

"We might know where people are, but we can't tell what a person's intentions are," he says. "We hope to enhance security, but the system relies on compliance. Someone planning something wouldn't carry a tag." Brennan believes the system wouldn't work well if it were voluntary.

"It could be voluntary in the sense that if a passenger doesn't want to carry a tag, he or she won't be able to board the plane," he says.

The Optag project was started about two and a half years ago, with funding secured for three years. Testing at the airport in Hungary will be performed toward the end of this year. Bacon expects the system to go to market in about two years. He adds that the consortium is in talks with Airbus because the system could also be used to expedite boarding processes in the gate area. Missed take-off and landing spots caused by slow boarding may become a problem for airlines once they begin flying Airbus' super-jumbo jets and have to load up to 700 passengers.

The system could help by generating a list of passengers located far from the gate at boarding time. Airlines could then send runners to specific areas to find stray passengers and hurry them to the gate—which, in turn, could help the airlines avoid hefty fees for missing take-off slots.