Vancouver's Rogers Arena the First to Test New Weapons Detection System

Fans at Rogers Arena in Vancouver will be the first to be screened using a new radio frequency device intended to detect concealed weapons.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Apr 16, 2019

Fans entering into Rogers Arena in Vancouver will be the first of many to be screened using a new radio frequency device intended to detect concealed weapons. 

Liberty Defense, a Georgia company that manufactures the Hexwave device, is planning to test its solution — which is still in development — later this year or early next year. According to the company's CEO, the device is able to detect and identify metallic and non-metallic objects hidden under clothing or inside bags, anything from firearms, to explosives or knives.

"The system captures 3D objects of interest," Liberty Defense CEO Bill Riker told the CBC. "A handgun, or a cell phone, is being analyzed by the artificial intelligence."

The scanned object is then compared to a database of potentially dangerous items. The system would then alert the security team if there is a match with a possible threat. The alert could be specific, noting what object was identified and where it is on the person, or simply just a red or green light to indicate that a further search is required.

The device is designed to be concealed or placed out in the open.

"You're coming up to an entrance and clearly there's some panels there —  it's up to the facilities to say whether it is an inspection area," Riker said. 

The company identified Rogers Arena as the place to test the product as Francesco Aquilini, the owner of the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, is involved with Liberty Defense. 

"It's going to be up to the venue on whether or not they actually have people go through it on a voluntary basis, which will enable us, jointly, to get an assessment of what to refine on the system," Riker said.

Once the testing is complete, Riker said he hopes the system is ready to deploy commercially by the summer of 2020.