High-tech security cameras have proved their mettle following the riots that swept the UK over the course of August. The more than 1 million cameras deployed throughout the country recorded 3,300 offenses and led to 1,875 charges in London alone, securityinfowatch.com reported. Furthermore, camera footage enabled authorities to link the July 7 bombing to four men responsible. But security forces, originally galvanized by the September 11 attacks and further encouraged by the London riots, are not satisfied. Surveillance technology marches on.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, researchers are developing artificial “noses” to be installed in doors and corridors. These devices will be designed to whiff traces of explosives in a person’s hair, rendering government buildings quite difficult to infiltrate and detonate.
Further developments include tiny sensors placed in reservoirs capable of detecting toxic microbes, cameras that can identify people by the shape of their ears or the pattern of their gait, and even chips that detect the aura of heat surrounding their bodies. Dental Researchers at the University of Buffalo have learned to analyze saliva in order to extract information regarding a subject’s RNA.
With these remarkable technological advances, we can expect terrorists, rioters, and other members of the criminal element to find their job far more difficult than they were even in the days when only cameras abounded.
These advances may seem like something out of a sci-fi film, but rest assured that they are close to being reality. Scientists concede that we may see these technologies deployed in our cities in as soon as one decade from now. And I think most of us will welcome the ease with which nefarious plots are assured to be foiled on the heels of these advancements.