Helen Massy-Beresford | Aviation Week & Space Technology

IDSS’s technology, which achieved certification in 2015 in the U.S., is now undergoing trials at Boston Logan International Airport with a view to achieving qualification to become a system of record by year-end. That status would allow the TSA to buy the equipment.

Paresi agrees passenger engagement may have a role to play: “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having some interaction, but I believe in layered security," he says. "The bottom line is that you can’t measure what is in a person’s brain—you can measure what is in a person’s bag.”