In Vienna's old stock exchange building, the ornate chandeliers and the pianist playing a Schubert sonata might have been from another era.
But the merchants gathered there Tuesday were right up to date selling surveillance devices, dirty-bomb detectors and boots designed to withstand anti-personnel mines.
Rob Clarey hefted one of his anti-mine boots in his right hand. ``It works,'' he said proudly. ``We tested it on real legs.'' The limbs, he said, were provided by the medical faculty of a Vienna university.
To his left, Joachim Goetzloff fielded questions about his contribution to making our world safer, jump suits designed to repel SARS, radioactivity and chemical and biological attack. Just a few steps away, Roman Rost explained the finer points of his dirty-bomb detector, ``sets up quickly, using the existing infrastructure at hand.''
The companies represented in the ballroom of the venerable building were dealing in a very modern commodity, the fears sown by the post 9/11 world of terrorism, pandemics, and organized crime.
Hundreds of similar trade fairs are held each year, all over the world. But, like the one in Vienna, they are by invitation only, with organizers keen to keep the cutting edge technology being displayed out of the wrong hands.
Twenty-four exhibitors in Vienna displayed wares ranging from the relatively basic modified hiking boot that is meant to stop anti-personnel mines, to supposedly undetectable fiber-optics microphones and attache-case-sized scanners built to find bugs and other surveillance devices used by the bad guys.
Former British Royal Marine Maj. Paddy Saunders confided to a reporter that he would be staging a similar show in London later this year but refused to say when and where.
``I want to keep mine small and discreet,'' said Saunders, explaining that potential clients, government intelligence services, police forces and army commanders ``expect to come without the wrong person looking over their shoulder.''
At the Vienna show, Austrian military officers in uniform mingled with senior members of the Interior Ministry's anti-terror unit and a group of Russian speakers who refused to identify themselves. Smatterings of Czech and Croatian could also be heard from the floor.
Clarey, who represents the British-based Aigis Engineering Solutions, says his company's boot was designed for ``combat infantry, combat engineers, special forces.'' But he said some interest comes from outside those traditional sectors.
``Oil companies, for instance,'' he said. ``Oil is in dangerous places, Iraq, West Africa ...''
His boot, shiny leather that resembles normal hiking gear except for its platform heel, is shielded from the sole by two special layers, one to absorb a blast, the other to deflect shrapnel. An attachable sleeve that goes up to the knee protects the lower leg.
Some of devices on exhibit ran in the tens of thousands of euros (dollars). Goetzloff's Eurolite company, which makes protective suits and related products comes in at the lower end of the scale.
``That one there costs around euro60 (less than US$75),'' he said, pointing to a flaming orange plastic outfit made for the civil defense organization of a Scandinavian country he won't name.
He said prices vary depending on the customer's wishes. The U.S. Navy Seals ordered more than 10,000 suits a few years ago that had extra large trousers and an enlarged upper part for the special equipment they need to carry.
In the corner next to the entrance, Rost, who organized the Austrian show, proudly explained the basics of what he said was effectively a dirty-bomb detector.
Existing hollow guard-rails set up in high security areas at airports or elsewhere can be pumped full of a liquid that detects even minute amounts of radioactivity and sends a signal to an electron tube. That in turn alerts security personnel that someone is carrying a radioactive substance, he said.
Rost said fears of terrorism and criminality meant continued big dividends to all in the room in the years to come.
``Unfortunately, business is booming,'' Rost said, his arm sweeping the stands next to his.
``Today's world needs us, and our products.''
