Advanced technologies such as entrance gates that detect tiny particles of explosives within three seconds, and security cameras that can predict how crowded a place will be 10 minutes later, are among those being developed according to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. 

The explosive-detecting system was developed by multinational conglomerate company Hitachi, which is said to have paid attention to specific kinds of tiny particles that stick to hands or clothes after contact with explosives.

It can check up to 1,200 people per hour with Hitachi planning to initially introduce the system in high-security facilities, such as electric power plants and data centres.

A system that predicts how crowded a place will be 10 minutes later, based on data from cameras, has been revealed by Mitsubishi Electric.

It analyses the number of people and the directions in which they move, before displaying the predicted number on monitors and allowing security guards to be deployed more efficiently.

Personal computer equipment company Fujitsu, meanwhile, has begun a service in which an artificial intelligence programme analyses images from security cameras and finds people exhibiting suspicious behaviour.

The Japanese Government sees the upgrade of these sorts of technologies as one of the pillars of its economic growth strategy and is now planning for industrial, administrative and academic circles to cooperate on putting them to practical use.

"It is necessary to establish these technologies in the coming two years and to accumulate achievements," Isao Itabashi, a senior analyst specialising in crisis management at the Council for Public Policy and an expert on anti-terrorism measures, told Yomiuri Shimbun. 

The acceleration of development is driven by the fact that the number of workers taking jobs as security guards in Japan has fallen as employment conditions have improved.

According to the latest figures, there were more than six times more job offers than job seekers in the field.

It is anticipated it will be difficult to secure the 50,000 security guards estimated to be necessary for Tokyo 2020.

The threat of terrorism was a major concern during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August, when information technology company NEC's face-authentication technology was used with security cameras to identify registered personnel.

Last month, a Brazilian judge accepted indictments against eight men who are accused of plotting terrorist attacks at Rio 2016. 

Judge Marcos Josegrei da Silva, of the Federal Court in Curitiba, said prosecutors had gathered "sufficient evidence to proceed to trial", according to Reuters, which added that the group are accused of targeting "foreigners, homosexuals, Shi'ite muslims and Jews".

The accused are also charged with racketeering while all but one have been accused of corrupting minors, it has been reported.

It comes after federal officers swooped to apprehend a group of 10 in July, who had reported links to Islamic State.

A covert operation was carried out by the police's anti-terrorism division to thwart what was then seen as the biggest threat to the security of the Olympic Games, just 15 days before the Opening Ceremony was held on August 5.

Police made their move after monitoring messages shared by the group on social networks.

An 11th suspect later handed himself into police and another man was then detained.