[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5847\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EMaking railways safer from attack\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver two hundred train and metro passengers lost their lives in the terrorist attacks that hit Madrid and London in 2004 and 2005. Governments and transport services across the EU have remained on red alert since.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo make urban transport safer, researchers at the EUR\u0026nbsp;40\u0026nbsp;million SECUR-ED project\u0026nbsp;are developing smart facial recognition technology that can automatically follow suspicious people from camera to camera.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018We are teaching the algorithm to recognise abandoned luggage and follow the person who left it.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EPhilippe Moutou, leader of the research team at Thales\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Our surveillance software identifies the facial features of people filmed by CCTV cameras,\u2019 explained Philippe Moutou, who runs a research team at Thales that develops tracking algorithms as part of the SECUR-ED project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe software can follow people as they move through the transport system because of its ability to identify people from one camera to the next. This has already proved its value in combating vandalism and pickpocketing, assisting police officers who encounter difficulties in reaching crime scenes in time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In a similar way, we are teaching the algorithm to recognise abandoned luggage and follow the person who left it,\u2019 said Moutou.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt the moment, there are limits to what can be done with CCTV surveillance. The facial recognition software is only good enough to give operators a selection of possible matches, meaning that with 800 000 people transiting a single Paris metro station each day, transport operators lack the manpower to follow suspects for long.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPending revolution\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, Moutou is already looking towards the next step, which will be to build that human capacity for facial recognition and intuition into automatic systems, meaning the systems will be able to track suspects for much longer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The brain is infinitely superior at identifying people and understanding situations than any machine around today. It breaks down images and reassembles them at an amazing rate, but we don\u2019t know how. That is the pending revolution in our field. If we really want our algorithms to work independently, we need a leap in our understanding of how the visual cortex works.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAutomatic video tracking of people is an intrusion, but one that could save lives in the event of a terrorist attack. When deciding whether to finance projects that deal with security and surveillance, the EU looks at the impact it would have on society.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u2018Our projects, before they are financed, are always subject to an ethical review,\u2019 said a poject and policy officer from\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan\u003Ethe EU\u2019s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry who deals with security research. \u003Cspan\u003E\u2018\u003C\/span\u003EWe want to make sure research is compliant with existing data-protection legislation, that it is privacy-friendly, and that it will not have any negative impact on society.\u2019\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EHigh-tech surveillance can help prevent an attack, but if an attack were to happen, then smart railway carriage design could still help to reduce casualties, and the EU-funded project SecureMetro is working out how to make metro carriages more resilient to explosion.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESimulation expert Umberto Battista at Stam in Italy, one of the project\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C\/span\u003Es partners, used software to\u0026nbsp;map out what happens in the split second of an explosion inside a carriage.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The result is a very heavy simulation,\u2019 Battista said. \u2018Ten years ago, it might have been unsolvable. But thanks to advances in processing power, our computers can now run it in a week.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProject partner Tecnalia, in Spain, then studied the response of different materials to explosions and debris. \u2018We layered energy-absorbing materials with fragment-resistant materials, and strengthened windows with stacks of micron-thick films,\u2019 said Richard Seddon, who led the research team. \u2018Components were tested by raining projectiles on it through an air cannon and blasting it with live explosives,\u2019 and these results were incorporated into the model used by the simulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFinally, a blast-resilient carriage was built by SecureMetro\u2019s manufacturing partner, Sunsundegi, which has \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2ekd7BJYIZs\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ea much lower level of debris projection\u003C\/a\u003E, making it safer in case of a blast.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese technologies could help make public transport safer in the future, however at the moment stricter security rules and greater public awareness are still the main assets in reducing the risk of terrorist attacks, according to\u0026nbsp;Jean-Luc Planchet, who runs security projects at RATP, the company that operates the Paris public transport network.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027There is no single piece of technology that can solve the threat of a terrorist attack,\u2019 he said. \u2018But these projects have shed light on technologies that can help us better protect our passengers in the future.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-mbdnfu2qnkgq0vgcrph4gbwr754pz2dfbpomyshmzm0\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-MBdnFU2qNkGq0vgcRPH4gBwr754pz2DFbpoMyShMZM0\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]