Meet the futuristic, World Cup–tested machine that could help speed you through airport security

Anyone who has gone through airport security in the past few decades has surely thought, "There must be a better way." Qylur Security Systems in Silicon Valley has taken that idea and run with it, devising a new, ostensibly better way to scan carry-on luggage for designated threatening objects. But before they can market their new Qylatron Entry Experience Solution, Qylur has to prove that it works in the real world.

"So it went to Brazil, where it was hired by an event operations company running some World Cup games," says Wired's Alex Davies. "Qylur was given responsibility for one entrance to Arena de Baixada stadium, for four games." It apparently worked both at spotting the motley list of objects banned by FIFA at World Cup games and at amusing the people passing through security. Here's how the five-cell, automated scanning machine works, according to Qylur:

The promise of the Qylatron is that you won't have to take laptops or anything else out of your carry-on bag, and a machine will search through your stuff for guns and bombs, not a person. People will still have to walk through a scanner. Four successful World Cup tests almost certainly aren't enough to get the TSA to upend its current airport security system, but give it time: We need something better; this could be part of it.

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