Frontier City debuts new no-contact screening tech

As Frontier City opened its gates Wednesday, employees of the theme park peered down at screens showing a live video of guests as they walked through the main gate.

A woman carrying a purse stepped through a set of uprights, and at that moment, the video froze. The system detected something, and overlaid a red box on her purse. While it wasn't immediately visible to the naked eye, the purse contained a small metal pipe.

This, however, was a demonstration by a park employee of a newly implemented screening system called Evolv Express, which can screen thousands of people each hour for weapons without holding up the line. The system picked up on the metal pipe, but ignored cameras, phones and other non- threatening items people carried through the gate.

When it re opened this month, Frontier City debuted new screening technology that allows most guests to enter the theme park without stopping

or making contact with any employees.

As guests enter the park, they're first scanned with a thermal camera to detect whether they have an abnormally high temperature. If the system flags the guest, they will undergo additional screening to see if they have a fever, one of the symptoms of COVID-19.

Visitors then pass through the Evolv Express screening system, which uses a combination of metal detection, cameras and a powerful art ificial intelligence to alert employees to possible threats.

Both systems scan passive ly and use noninvasive techniques to assess risk.

"A whole group can walk through and if none of them have anything dangerous,

they just walk on into the park. It cuts down on lines, it stops people being in groups, especially with social distancing," Frontier City spokeswoman Christin King said.

The AI used by Evolv Express was "trained" to detect threats by using an extensive set of realworld data, the company said. In real time, it differentiates between true threats and harmless objects, while continuing to learn as it screens more and more people.

It's already been used at places of work, transportation hubs, s ports stadiums and more, with Evolv Technology boasting the system has already screened more t han 25 million people.

At Frontier City, t he scanner hasn't discovered any weapons but already has alerted employees to items not welcome inside.

"Right now, we' re getting about a 10-20% alarm rate. It' s been mostly speakers, radios,

things like that we don't want in the park," manager Jason Stewart said.

But if someone tries to bring a weapon in, Stewart is confident that Evolv will see it.

"It picks up the signature of the weapon, no matter if it's in a bag, on their person, in a holster we can't see," he said.

To further avoid contact during the coronavirus pandemic, Frontier City did away with physical tickets and even stopped handing out maps of the park. Visitors are now encouraged to download an app, where they can get tickets, view the map and even order food and refreshments without waiting in line.

Frontier City was the first Six Flags-owned theme park to open during the pandemic.

"Evolv understands how critical it is for people to feel safe as they go about their daily lives," Chief Executive Officer Peter George at Evolv

Technology said. "In the past, screening has been slow, intrusive, uncomfortable and, all too often, ineffective. It's time for the days of long lines and archaic, high-touch bag checks to become things of the past. By pairin go ur vision for how threat detection really should work with our cutting-edge, advanced technology, we are thrilled to help Six Flags provide an even safer, more friendly screening experience for all their guests and employees."

When the park opened early this month, attendance was limited to 500 guests per day. That limit has increased and will expand through the summer, King said.

"We wanted to make sure our team members were ready for all the new changes and social distancing, and to give our members and season pass holders a chance to get used to the park," she said.