It seems that almost daily now we’re hearing about new technology that could have come directly out of the pages of a science fiction novel but which in fact are science fact. Yep, the future is definitely here.
The latest technology that fits this bill comes courtesy of researchers at the University of Utah, who have found a way to see through walls.
Apparently the technology can be used as part of a surveillance technique to detect movement inside a building and pinpoint the location, to within a metre no less, of a sniper or even hostages who may be trapped inside a building. Cool.
You’re bound to be wondering how it works? Well the technique the researchers have developed uses variance-based radio tomographic imaging.
If that’s a bit too technical sounding, it basically means that they have found a way to visually detect changes in radio waves behind walls.
The radio waves will vary when there is any movement allowing anyone observing the data to map their position.
Joey Wilson, an electrical engineering graduate student from the University of Utah and Neil Patwari, his faculty adviser, have been testing the technique using a 34 node wireless network on IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol says the MIT Technology Review.
Apparently they discovered that by “interrogating” the space behind the walls with signals and multiple receivers, sounds serious doesn’t it, they could detect a moving object to within a metre of accuracy.
In their paper which was recently submitted to Computer Science entitled” through wall tracking using variance based radio tomography networks” Wilson and Patwari present “a new method for imaging, localizing, and tracking motion behind walls in real time”.
“We show that the signal strength on a wireless link is largely dependent on the power contained in the multipath components that travel through space containing moving objects” say the researchers.
Using “a statistical model relating variance to spatial locations of movement” they can provide an “estimation of a motion image” and by applying the “Kalman filter” from the motion image they can track the coordinates of a moving target.
The technology could even be used to find out if there is anyone trapped in a building that might otherwise be too dangerous to enter but as always, there’s a down side, someone could use the technology to determine the whereabouts of security guards or to see if anyone is at home before carrying out a robbery.
But we can’t let that stand in the way of progress can we?
Clever stuff indeed!
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