Feeling without touch: TSA agents could use virtual reality to check passengers

In the future, going through airport security could be less unpleasant.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may have found a way to search airline passengers by using virtual reality technology that allows them to check passengers without actually touching them.

For this to work, VR goggles and haptic feedback gloves are needed. Further information provided by DHS and patent applications reveals that a series of sensors creates a person’s “contours” that are then replicated in the virtual reality system.

Then, an agent wearing a “haptic feedback pad” could inspect a passenger’s body without having to physically touch them when looking for dangerous objects.

The device would be “a wearable accessory that features touchless sensors, cameras, and a haptic feedback pad,” reveals DHS.

“The touchless sensor system could be enabled through millimeter wave scanning, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), or backscatter X-ray technology,” it explains further.

While the primary use of such technology is focused on security screenings, it can also be used in medical examinations.

The reason for implementing such technology is to make the passenger security search less invasive but still efficient.

The patent information also reveals that this technology has been developed since 2022.

Despite efforts to find less invasive ways to search people, 404media reports that the question remains whether this technology is actually less intrusive. An officer would still be able to “feel” the parts that they’re touching, even though the passengers themselves don’t feel it.

Nevertheless, the patent explains that the technology would limit how much of the passenger’s body is seen, to maintain their privacy. Also, only the person with the goggles would be able to see the images.