Monday April 27 1:11 PM EDT The Love Boat meets Big Brother By Gene Koprowski SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) - The pleasure vessel, the Love Boat, which served as inspiration for the inane TV series, may seem like the least likely locale for a new-technology trial. But the Princess Cruises ship will soon be serving as just that. Concerned about security problems aboard its ships, the company is rolling out a new digital-imaging system for its fleet -- the first high-tech, photo-security system in the cruise industry. Perhaps not surprisingly, Princess Cruises is also working with UPN to incorporate images of the technology in the network's new TV series, Love Boat: the Next Wave. The technology is called APASS, the automated personnel-assisted security screening system. APASS digitally photographs passengers as they board the ship, storing the images in a Borland visual database for instant retrieval during the cruise. Taking the photograph, entering it into the database, and processing the passenger through registration, takes just eight seconds overall," said Anthony Zagami, CEO of Sisco Corp., the company that developed the idea. "And time is of the essence on a cruise ship. "You have to board 2,000 or more people in just a matter of hours," said Zagami, who is also a former secret-service agent. Why on earth would a company in a hospitality industry have to go to such lengths to ensure security aboard its ships? There are several reasons. Recent reports by the US Coast Guard have indicated the presence of stowaways on many cruise ships. "And the whereabouts of actual, paying passengers is also a growing concern for the industry," said Zagami. If a passenger goes ashore in Cancun, she checks out with the key card issued by the ship, which is linked to the database containing her picture. If she is not on board when the ship is set to sail, ship personnel -- for the first time ever -- will know and can alert police on shore. This apparently happens more often than the cruise industry would like to admit. "We're very enthused about the technology," said a spokesperson for Princess Cruises in Los Angeles. "It saves us money and time over the long haul." APASS itself is a mixture of high-speed, off-the-shelf digital cameras and computer-networking technologies. Zagami originally came up with the idea for the product while on a cruise with his wife. "When you're in the security business for 30 years, you start thinking about things like this," he said. Sisco integrated the technologies and developed a new, automated-entry security system. The networks are quite extensive on the Love Boat: even the entryway to the door in your cabin can be linked to the system's database. With the digital ID, only authorized passengers are allowed to board the ship at any of its ports of call. Zagami developed electronic kiosks linked to the digital-image network for passenger check-in. The Love Boat is not the only ship that will see the use of this technology. "We're planning on adding this security system for 10 more ships in 1998," says the spokeswoman for Princess Cruises. The Coast Guard is asking all cruise ships to have a tracking system for passengers by the end of this year. (Reuters/Wired)
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