Workers at the Tokyo Olympics are using state-of-the-art technology to maintain security and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The spectator stands in one of the Olympic venues, the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in central Tokyo, will mostly be empty. Even so, organizers need to minimize contact among the security guards, athletes and Games officials in and around the facility.
So, they are relying on high-tech devices, which also reduce the number of guards needed.
The venue, completed in October 2019, has a capacity of about 12,000. Artistic gymnastics, trampoline gymnastics and other events will start there on Saturday.
Facial-recognition and baggage-inspection systems are installed at the front gate and several other locations.
A high-precision camera takes photos of the faces of people trying to enter, and then the system checks if they match photos registered in advance. Unregistered people will not be allowed in, even if they are carrying a pass.
The organizing committee says the Tokyo Games are the first to employ a system that verifies entrants’ IDs using preregistered images of all people related to the Olympics.
Another device at the main gate helps guards check for explosives and other suspicious items on vehicles. That includes objects hidden in undercarriages.
Security cameras and infrared sensors are mounted above a 2.5-meter wall encircling the gymnasium. Those devices can detect unauthorized people trying to enter the premises.
