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TSA: New airport security scanner poses “privacy risks” to passengers

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US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is demanding modifications of a new airport security system because it poses “privacy risks” to passengers by showing too much of them on display, a newly published document has revealed.


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Following a demonstration, the Transportation Security Administration has requested changes to the contract because the scanner they received “has privacy risks associated with the Graphical User Interface,” says the document dated March 26 and made public by Quartz on Monday.

While the document provides no further details on the exact nature of the privacy risks, the TSA required the scanner’s manufacturer to add additional security features before it would consider using the device in a “live environment.”

Using another government database, Quartz identified the contractor – whose name is redacted in the document – as Virginia security firm ThruVision. The document refers to ThruVision’s TAC scanner, which the company describes as a “proven people-screening camera that sees any type of item.”

The device is supposed to be part of TSA’s “Future Lane Experience” (FLEx), an effort to speed up security checks that have become a major headache for passengers in many airports.

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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority partnered with the TSA last year to deploy ThruVision’s portable TS4 scanner, which the TSA claims to have vetted “extensively” prior to using it on LA commuters. It is unclear whether the TSA had similar concerns about the TS4 before the device was used in the field.

Revelations about the TSA concerns over the new scanner come after last week’s report by ProPublica that accused the agency’s current hardware of “discriminating” against African-Americans by misreading their hair, requiring a disproportionate number of pat-downs.

The ACLU slammed the TSA in 2009 for using scanning technology to conduct “virtual strip searches” that provided TSA employees with photos of passengers’ genitals, breasts and buttocks. More was revealed in 2010, when the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) published TSA documents which further detail the scanners’ invasiveness.

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Qatar Airways partners with Rolls-Royce to trial its Virtual Reality training tool

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Qatar Airways is proud to be the global launch partner of Rolls-Royce’s new Virtual Reality training tool. Recognized for its ongoing commitment to innovation, Qatar Airways is the first airline to trial the ground-breaking new technology as part of its engineering training plan.

The new tool is designed to provide engineers with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB refresher training in a virtual environment without the need for a physical engine to work on. Qatar Airways engineers will be the first in the industry to experience this cutting-edge technology.

The Trent XWB, which powers the Qatar Airways A350 fleet, is Rolls-Royce’s largest engine and must be separated before engineers can transport it for maintenance and repair. Using HTC Vive equipment, engineers will be immersed in the process, using sight, sound and touch to separate the two parts of the engine in a virtual setting, without the complexity and cost of a real engine.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is an airline of the future, and we constantly strive to deliver innovation in every area of our business. Our ultimate goal is to provide our customers with a quality on-board experience every time they travel, and by adopting the latest technology in our engineering department, we aim to ensure that they arrive at their destination smoothly and without disruption. We are very excited about the new Virtual Reality training tool offered by Rolls-Royce and we are proud that they have chosen Qatar Airways as their global launch partner.”

Rolls-Royce, President – Civil Aerospace, Mr. Chris Cholerton, said: “At Rolls-Royce we are designing, testing, and maintaining engines in the digital realm, so it makes sense that we bring cutting-edge technology to our training programmes. In the same way pilots complete elements of their training in a simulator, certain engineering tasks can be taught through Virtual Reality. Qatar Airways was the first customer to take delivery of the Trent XWB, and their forward-thinking vision across their business makes them the perfect launch partner for this technology.”

The Rolls-Royce Virtual Reality training platform trial follows Qatar Airways’ first venture into the world of Virtual Reality when it became IATA’s global launch partner of RampVR™ in August 2018. The award-winning system, pioneered by IATA, utilises the latest virtual-reality technology to simulate real air-side conditions for ground handling and ground service operator training. The RampVR™ system is being used by Qatar Airway’s Talent Development department to train their ground operations teams.

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The Internet knows you are planning a vacation and will charge you more

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People are starting to plan their summer vacation, and for many, the planning process itself is the beginning of a well-deserved rest. However, it does cause frustration when after a couple of price checks on the Internet, one starts to notice how flight ticket and apartment booking quotes take an upward trend. Such behavior is called price discrimination and is a prevalent tactic across the travel industry, but there are ways to protect yourself from it.

Intuitively unfair, the concept of price discrimination (if not based on race, religion or national origin) is legal and can take many forms. Its general principle is that potential customers get to see different prices of the same product or service based on their willingness to pay as perceived by the seller.

“Many online retailers who use special algorithms to create an illusion of high demand and an increasing price. Let’s say, the quotes for all the hotel rooms you checked yesterday have increased only to encourage you to make a fast decision to book,” explains Naomi Hodges, Cybersecurity Advisor at Surfshark. “The same goes for flight tickets and car rentals so that excellent offer you found an hour ago might have deteriorated to ‘it’s still ok, but I have to hurry’ at your second check.”

Various online businesses are using personalized pricing techniques to manipulate people’s emotions. The leaders in this field, for example, Uber, hire behavioral economists who help to craft the logic of algorithms of differential pricing.

The core ingredient to make the algorithms work is your online data which is acquired when websites insert cookies into your browser and get to know your IP address.

“Such information can reveal where you live, how new or expensive device you use, which websites you visit, what are you interested in, whether you are an easy spender or not, and much more,” says Naomi Hodges.

When your data is being used for personalized pricing, the car rental might become expensive if you already booked a flight to some destination. The same goes for hotel and domestic flight booking.

The price manipulation can go even further by knowing that you are a user of a brand-new iPhone model which indicates higher purchasing power and in turn – your willingness to pay more than other customers.

How to avoid price discrimination?

Naomi Hodges reveals that it is rather easy to check if you are being differentiated from other potential travelers. Taking a few steps can help you save a sum worth a couple of nights at a great hotel or even a return flight ticket if you are an occasional traveler.

If you notice a higher flight ticket/car rental/hotel booking price than before, relax and follow these tips:

  1. Clear your recent digital footprint. You can do that by clearing your browser cache, history, and cookies in the browser settings.
  2. Turn on a virtual private network (VPN) app. This trick can help you change your location by giving you a different IP address. In many cases prices are based on the device’s location, so you can avoid higher prices simply by pretending that you are in another country. Check different countries to see how people there
  3. Turn on Incognito Mode (Chrome), Private Mode (Safari) or Private Window (Firefox) in your browser. This step will allow you to browse cookie-less.
  4. Check the prices using a different device. Differentiating between desktop and mobile users is a common practice.
  5. Change the top-level domain (.com, co.uk, .fr, .net) to a different one. For example, flights4u.com might display different prices than flights4u.de.

Best results can be achieved if all these tips are used simultaneously.

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National Research Council in Canada wants to improve air passenger experience

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From visiting friends and family to getting goods to market, Canadians, tourists, and businesses rely on a safe, secure aviation system. While safety is everyone’s top priority in air travel, the air travel experience is arguably a passenger’s next biggest concern. Air travelers and crew want a safe and pleasant flight experience, and so do air carriers. By providing a positive passenger experience through well-designed, research-vetted cabin systems and products that complement human behavior, companies can ensure safer, smoother operations while earning and maintaining customer loyalty.

To understand how people interact with the controlled air travel environment, a National Research Council of Canada(NRC) multidisciplinary team is studying human responses to the cabin environment and the impact of new design concepts and emerging technologies on air travelers and crew.

The NRC is in the third year of a five-year research collaboration with the Research & Technology team at Airbus Americas Engineering to improve the air passenger experience by studying and demonstrating the human impact of technology innovations. The research team is using the new NRC Centre for Air Travel Research and real people in simulated tests to evaluate and analyze innovative disruptive concepts, cabin air quality and environmental control systems, passenger comfort, and issues associated with boarding and exiting aircraft.

After carefully analyzing the data gathered during these comprehensive tests, researchers will be able to identify low-cost, high-return changes that can be applied early in the aircraft design process to the benefit of Airbus and its industry customers, affording them the opportunity to make evidence-based decisions that balance the safety and comfort of air passengers and crew with manufacturing and operational costs for next generation aircraft.

This research collaboration is due in part to Airbus’ Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) obligation associated with Canada’s Fixed Wing Search and Rescue Aircraft Replacement (FWSAR) program. Canada’s ITB Policy ensures that prime contractors provide business activities in Canada equal to the contract value. The FWSAR program is supporting approximately 2.5 billion CAD in ITB activities within the Canadian economy.

  • The multi-disciplinary team in the National Research Council of Canada’s Centre for Air Travel Research includes a variety of expertise— specialists in physiology, psychology, industrial design, engineering, instrumentation, fabrication, and project management— that allows the team to fully explore the impact of new aircraft design concepts and emerging technologies on air travelers and crew.
  • The Centre for Air Travel Research has five laboratories and can facilitate the study of security screening systems, airport navigation tools, virtual reality devices to address flight anxiety, and the specific needs of communities such as seniors or persons with disabilities.
  • In addition to offering a realistic re-creation of an airport terminal, the Centre for Air Travel Research also boasts the Flexible Cabin Laboratory, complete with an A320 aircraft cabin that allows for the study of passenger flight experience, human vibration, and more.

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TableVision: A virtual reality training solution for waitstaff on cruises

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Pixvana, a virtual reality solutions provider, today announced that it has partnered with Seabourn, to create and launch “TableVision”, a virtual reality training solution for waitstaff.  The new interactive VR training video enables new Seabourn employees to master the massive, 105 tables, 12 serving station, dining room in a fraction of the time – without internet or access to the actual room.

“A major hurdle to staff training is the fact that the ship is almost always in full operation, with the dining room perpetually occupied with either customers or the cleaning crew,” said Rocky Sudlesky, the Seabourn Fleet Learning and Development Lead Specialist. “Finding a window of time to manually train new employees was both cumbersome and inefficient.  Instead, we turned to the pros at Pixvana who handled everything from creative design to post-production and headset implementation.  The end result is a completely tailored training experience that not only saves Seabourn Learning and Development time and money, but also provides staff with a more engaging, efficient, and accessible opportunity to learn.”

Pixvana utilized SPIN Studio, its proprietary VR-native platform,  to design and create the project in entirety.  After analyzing the environment and drafting an optimized day-of plan, the team executed a fast, 4 hour on-set shoot – creating 26 scenes connected by 90 hyperports.  Over 300 assets were then applied in a post production period – including branded, togglable graphic labels over the tables.  The highly engaging experience simulates the psychological experience of wandering through the dining room with interactive tools that enhance training recall.

Pivana also provided access to its proprietary VR Casting feature, giving Seabourn Learning and Development the ability to conduct VR training sessions even when ‘offline’.  Using VR Casting, TableVision can be securely transmitted and downloaded to any Oculus Go headset in the highest resolution, ready to be accessed at any moment and from any point around the globe.

“Pixvana is the only VR company in the world that offers clients access to both an award-winning creative services team and the power of a proprietary VR-native platform,” said Rachel Lanham, Chief Operating Officer of Pixvana.  “By creating tailored VR training experiences that leverage the VR superpowers – presence, empathy and immersion – we can maximize workforce engagement and retention.  We believe there’s huge potential for immersive learning in the corporate world and Seabourn’s dedication to unparalleled service puts them at the forefront of innovative training in the cruise industry.”

Upon complete roll out of TableVision across each of Seabourn’s custom dining rooms, Pixvana will work to complete more training experiences for Seabourn Learning and Development, helping them develop an overall strategy to integrate VR into their investments in training innovation and improve results.

Virtual Reality and Enterprise Training: Seabourn Case Study from Pixvana on Vimeo.

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