The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security Completes Operational Exercise for XonarSafe™
Wed, 04/07/2021 - 08:27am | By: NCS4 Staff
The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) recently completed a product operational
exercise for Xonar™ Technology’s XonarSafe™ technology, an RF-based detection system.
The two-part exercise included a demonstration of the technology in the company’s laboratory and observation of it in use at a concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fla. The findings are available in a white paper published last week on the NCS4 website.
NCS4 partners with industry and technical experts to observe and exercise products in operational or simulated environments. The goal of the process and resulting white paper is to equip practitioners with the requisite knowledge to make informed procurement decisions and better understand the operational feasibility of products.
“Detection and screening technologies have rapidly evolved over the past several years, with solutions now integrating a multitude of sensors and artificial intelligence capabilities,” said Daniel Ward, NCS4 Director of Training and Exercise. “Through the Operational Exercise program, we are able to engage practitioners and solution providers to develop an understanding of how technical promise is translating to operational capability.”
During the exercise, the evaluation team observed pre-event XonarSafe™ screening operations. XonarSafe™ provides touchless scanning for weapons and is intended to eliminate the need to scan bags and outer garments separately, thus potentially decreasing the amount of time that venue patrons wait in security screening lines.
While the focus of the scenario was the application and capability of the solution, the team also monitored the interaction of staff and spectators throughout the duration of the exercise. Each evaluator rated individual capabilities and provided additional qualitative feedback to document their experience with the technology.
“In this exercise, Xonar demonstrated that the technology met their stated capabilities in both laboratory and live-event environments,” said Dr. Joslyn Zale, NCS4 Research Associate.
Though the NCS4 is an impartial body and does not endorse any products or services, it provides a mechanism to aggregate specific safety and security requirements for the spectator sports domain through the Operational Exercise program. The exercise process and focus areas were developed in cooperation with the NCS4 National Advisory Board, which includes representatives from professional sports leagues, select collegiate institutions, major events, and public assembly sites.
The program follows principles currently espoused by standing U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) validation programs that are meant to assist end operators with objective and quantitative reviews of available commercial systems and solutions.
The exercise team indicated that XonarSafe™ performed as indicated by the company and would likely perform well in the sports and entertainment safety and security environment. Exercise details can be found in the white paper.
For more information on NCS4’s Operational Exercise Program or to view the XonarSafe™ white paper, visit https://ncs4.usm.edu/industry-engagement/operational-exercise/.