BALTIMORE, Jan. 15, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- View Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:VYST):
From the streets of New York City to the waters of Puget Sound, first responders who must confront the burgeoning threat of chemical, biological or radioactive weapons will soon have broader access to a compelling new tool to bolster their personal safety -- the Hazmat Cam.
Designed by engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Hazmat Cam is a lightweight wireless video camera system that first responders carry into an incident scene. Housed in a tough, waterproof flashlight body, the camera system sends back live images to a command post located up to several miles away from the incident area. View Systems, Inc., Baltimore, Md., has signed an exclusive license with the INEEL to commercialize this technology.
"Hazmat Cam dovetails perfectly with our security technology product line," said Gunther Than, Chief Technology Officer for View Systems, Inc. "Homeland security is increasingly more important to state and local first responders, and offering the Hazmat Cam commercially makes it easier for them to acquire the technology." The system has already been purchased by several National Guard Civil Support Teams and the U.S. Army.
INEEL Hazmat Cam designer Kevin Young has spent the last year crisscrossing the country, participating in dozens of emergency exercises and demonstrating the camera system across the gamut of field conditions. Perhaps none have been so challenging as its recent use deep within a three-deck, 150-foot fishing boat in Puget Sound.
"It was like trying to send a signal from inside a steel box," said Young. "But the system was designed to be very flexible, allowing us to move a repeater antenna above deck and place the main receiver in an optimal location." This flexibility allowed Hazmat Cam to send live video from all three decks within the ship to a surface command post.
"Every team wants clear, reliable video, and the Hazmat Cam delivers," said Young. "What makes this system unique is the combination of a triple antenna, true-diversity receiver, which delivers the clear picture, and the waterproof housing, which allows submersible decontamination."
Other features include video encryption and a separate transmitter-and-receiver system called extension link that increases the line-of-sight operating range of Hazmat Cam up to five miles.
Hazmat Cam is the second INEEL technology that View Systems, Inc. has licensed. The company also offers a concealed weapons detector called Secure Scan.
The INEEL is a science-based, multiprogram national laboratory dedicated to advancing the U.S. Department of Energy's strategic goals in the areas of environment, energy, science and national security. It is the home of science and engineering solutions and is operated for the DOE by Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC.
View Systems, Inc. provides products to law enforcement, government agencies, educational facilities, events and commercial businesses. View Systems has an extensive network of distributors and strategic alliance affiliates.