Thermal Sensing Biometric Tech Helps Travelers Return to Hawaii

The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) has selected NEC’s biometrics and thermal sensing technology, NeoFace Thermal Express, to safely bring travelers back to the state in the wake of initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. In deploying the contactless screening system at all five state-run airports, the idea is to facilitate safe and secure deplaning of passengers arriving on the islands.

From an operations standpoint, NeoFace Thermal Express will streamline airport arrivals, eliminating the need for manual elevated body temperature (EBT) checks. According to NEC, prior to the automated biometric solution, Hawaii National Guard members were responsible for the EBT scanning of individuals. By eliminating the need for human intervention on the initial screening, HDOT is mitigating the risk of passenger-to-screener transmission of COVID-19. Furthermore, thanks to the new system’s ability to scan passengers on the move, foot traffic can flow unimpeded, enabling easy compliance with social distancing measures.

Human screeners will still play a role in HDOT’s new screening protocol. If the NEC system detects a passenger with a temperature greater than 100.4, it will temporarily and anonymously track them until a screener can rendezvous for a secondary assessment. In line with privacy-first practices, all face and temperature data is deleted after 30 minutes, according to NEC.

The HDOT project is an example of NEC’s digital transformation efforts in border control. Just last week the company announced that it is building a One ID passenger management system for Narita International Airport in Japan, leveraging Red Hat’s OpenShift solution.

–

August 24, 2020