Liberty Defense Holdings (TSXV:SCAN) (OTCQB:LDDFF) has spent USD$30 million over the last two years developing a next generation threat detection solution for the aviation and the urban security market. The company recently announced sales and is making progress on a retrofit kit for airport security.
Joining us today is Bill Frain, the CEO of Liberty Defense Holdings.
TMH: What initially made you realize there was a need for HEXWAVE technology and how does it work for those who don’t know what HEXWAVE is?
BF: I’ve been in this business, Brieanna, or in the security space for over 30 years, and unfortunately things just continue to get worse about mass shootings and terrorist activities. I feel like we see something in the news every day and the threats continue to evolve, like ghost guns and the 3D printed guns. We knew we needed technology that could efficiently screen for metallic and non-metallic threats, and that’s exactly what the HEXWAVE does, because today, metal detectors are becoming very much outdated. We knew there had to be a more effective screening process from a security standpoint. And so, the HEXWAVE, which is a walkthrough screening portal, uses safe radio frequency waves and we use AI to automatically detect if there’s a threat or not a threat, and real time 3D video rate imaging. We’re really detecting any type of threat or anomaly that’s on the person. So it is a lot more sophisticated and more secure than some of the metal detector technologies that are out there today.
TMH: Now, the technology that is coming out of Liberty Defense is applicable to many different markets, but were you ever surprised with who is ordering your technology and can you just fill those who don’t know, who is buying the technology?
BF: It is kind of a surprise, but it’s more an unfortunate reality that we’re now living in, that this type of technology is going to be needed at places where we go daily. And we’re very used to seeing it at the airports and some other modes of transportation, but now we’re seeing the need at places like hotels and shopping centers and schools. But as one of our customers said, it’s becoming a societal need now. So, over the past few months we’ve spoken to probably 200 plus different end users and like I mentioned, we’ve spoken to schools, correctional facilities, religious centers, hospitals, the airports, the airlines, distribution centers, casinos, and you know, kind of the list goes on. But again, it’s the kind of place where we go every day. To me that’s kind of a surprise, but it really is, as someone said, a societal need now that we need this level of security and nobody wants to be in the school or the government building that has the next event.
TMH: What makes, and you kind of spoke to this a bit, but what makes HEWAVE a disruptive technology?
BF: So, the biggest difference for the HEXWAVE is we’re looking for any type of threat. We take a reflection off the body, very similar to the body scanners that are at the airport today, which are very effective, but we’re looking for any type of anomaly that’s on the person and that’s concealed. So, it could be a metallic or it could be non-metallic. And its really future proof, and what I mean by that is we continue to train the algorithms and update the algorithms. So, when a threat does come about, in the next three, six months or two years from now, we’re able to update the technology and we can transfer that data and software to the customers. We’re really trying to stay ahead of the game and stay ahead of the bad actors.
TMH: And what about progress? What has the company kind of done for progress on its high-definition advanced imaging technology, which from what I understand is in partnership with the Transportation Security administration?
BF: Yes, we have a contract with TSA and as we announced on Monday, we’re making excellent progress for the development, and it’s called the high-definition AIT upgrade kit.
So, it’s those body scanners that I just mentioned that at the airport, where you put your hands up but are very effective. We’ve got a contract for $1.75 million, that’s an 18-month program for us, and we’ve already received over $500,000 to date from TSA, so they continue to work with us. We’re in a very good position to enhance detection and lower the false alarm rate. At the end of the day, it might get higher throughput and kind of a better experience for passengers who are going through the airport. We believe Liberty is well positioned to capture this upgrade, we’re working closely with TSA and we’re looking to deploy the upgrade kit across the thousand units that are in the airports today, and looking to do that, over the next several years.
TMH: And as for the future, what can investors expect from the company going forward?
BF: It’s really an exciting time at Liberty. We’ve transitioned from the betas that we were doing in the engineering, so we’re now really in sales and growth mode. We’ve signed up major distributors in the security space that are going to help us from a sales and business development and growth platform. And the HEXWAVE as we’ve talked about, there’s such a need in the market for it. We’re going to continue to develop it, we’re going to make it faster, we’re going to continue to improve on the detection and the false alarm rate. And you know, it’s a mobile application. Not only can it be used in the urban security market, but for employee screening across the airports and the airlines. It’s a much broader security application than just the urban security market. So, a lot of good, exciting things are happening between the HEXWAVE, the HDAIT, and we’re looking to integrate with other technologies as well and we’ve been approached by a lot of different companies in the security space. So exciting times.
This is sponsored content issued on behalf of Liberty Defense Holdings Ltd. claimer here.