Global concerns about terrorism have taken us down a path of new inventions designed to keep us more safe. A British company is launching a camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people’s clothes from up to 80 feet away in what could be a breakthrough for the security industry.

ThruVision has designed the camers with what it calls “passive imaging technology” to identify objects by the natural electromagnetic rays — known as Terahertz or T-rays — that they emit.

The high-powered camera is effective even when people are moving. It does not reveal physical body details and the screening is harmless, the company says.

As with many cool innovations, ThruVision came up with the technology for the camera collaborating in an open innovation partership with the European Space Agency. This technology has both military and civilian applications and could be used in crowded airports, shopping malls or sporting events.

All people and objects emit low levels of electromagnetic radiation. Terahertz rays lie somewhere between infrared and microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum and travel through clouds and walls.

So how great is this technology? Depending on the material, the signature of the wave is different, so that explosives can be distinguished from a block of clay and cocaine is different from a bag of flour!