LONDON — A security camera that can peer discreetly through clothing from 80 feet away is being unveiled Wednesday at a scientific exhibition near here.

The T5000 camera could someday help passengers zip through airport checkpoints around the world, according to its developers. It also could be a boon for railroad stations and shopping centers eager to step up security.

ThruVision (ENLARGE)

ThruVision says the T5000 can see through clothes from up to 80 feet. It is designed to enhance security checkpoint capabilities at airports, railway stations and shopping centers.

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Created by a British company called ThruVision, the camera relies on naturally occurring terahertz waves — the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwaves — that are emitted by all people and things.

The camera is designed to detect drugs, liquids, weapons and explosives hidden under a person's clothing, but without revealing the anatomical attributes of the person's body.

"The ability to see both metallic and non-metallic items on people out to 25 meters is certainly a key capability that will enhance any comprehensive security system deployment," said Clive Beattie, ThruVision's chief executive officer.

He said ThruVision is entirely passive, with no irradiation of subjects that might give rise to health concerns.

The device can display images of concealed objects such as explosives under clothing even when the subject is walking.

"We can screen as people move and at a distance," said Jonathan James, ThruVision's director of product marketing. "This augments existing metal detector technology."

He said an earlier version of the T5000 camera already is in use at undisclosed U.S. military sites, although he would not elaborate.

James said the technology could eventually speed up wait times for travelers passing through airports.

Airports such as Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport — the world's busiest — have long been considering ways to ease their sometimes crowded security checkpoints. Ideas under recent discussion include the addition of more security lanes, including some lanes that fliers would pay to use.

But not all security experts are convinced that ThruVision's technology would make a big difference.

Michael Radu, an expert on terrorism at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said the time now spent to screen a passenger is no more than about 20 seconds.

"The delays are a matter of organization of gates at the airport," he said. "If the new system could eliminate the need to take off shoes and to open handbags, it would improve matters. But if not, there would be little change in the sense of travelers' convenience."

James said the T5000 is designed to spot large objects, and not smaller objects that might be found in a shoe.

Meanwhile, privacy concerns also could hamper deployment of such a device.

Robert Ellis Smith, publisher of the Privacy Journal based in Providence, R.I., said passengers should be worried that vendors, and not security specialists, seem to drive the direction of airport screening and that both parties rely too much on technology.

Based near Oxford, England, ThruVision was spun off in 2004 from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, one of the British government's foremost physics research centers.

ThruVision will unveil the T5000 camera at an exhibition this week sponsored by Britain's Home Office that will showcase the latest in security equipment.

"Astronomers use T-ray cameras that can see through dust and clouds in space, revealing what lies beyond," said Liz Towns-Andrews of Britain's Science and Technology Facilities Council, which runs the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. "ThruVision uses them to see weapons hidden by clothing.

"Who would have imagined that research carried out by space scientists to study the stars could result in it being used to protect the public from terrorists, and therefore save lives?" she said. "The impact of this will be remarkable."