New Radar Sees Through Walls 397
artemis67 writes "A small Israeli company has developed a radar system that uses ultra-wideband technology to produce three-dimensional pictures of the space behind a wall from a distance of up to 20 meters. The pictures, which reportedly resemble those produced by ultrasound, are relatively high-resolution and are produced in real time. Wow, it sounds like the potential benefits of this device are huge, saving lives of soldiers, firemen, or police; the potential for privacy invasion, however, is similarly large."
Our gratitude (Score:5, Interesting)
If it's not already Slashdotted, you can download the sample video [radarvision.com] off of the RadarVision website. The display doesn't give you Superman see-everything-in-detail-through-walls kind of powers (Lois Lane: "what kind of underwear am I wearing?"), but it's still pretty cool that this kind of thing can be done without using heat signatures and whatnot.
Very cool (Score:3, Interesting)
saw it (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
I can see it being used when the military is doing raids on houses, bunkers, etc. They can see how many people are in the room and where they are, so they can come in gunning and not take so many casualties.
Another use might be that when they are searching houses for weapons and stuff, they can see into the rooms before hand.
But, like other technology of this nature, it opens limitless possiblities for abuse, so the government will have to keep a cloe eye on how it is used
Re:Very cool (Score:3, Interesting)
The handheld unit does 20 feet away. A heli powered unit might be more powerful. Besides, the advantage to a helicopter is that you CAN get within 20 feet to check. It slows down the sweep, but at least you can make sure that your President or foreign national is safe.
I wonder... (Score:2, Interesting)
I hate these pseudo-tech articles. (Score:5, Interesting)
Its been a while since I've done any RF, but theres some things in that article that are a little bit, odd, to say the least.
Camero developed a certain kind of ultra radio wave that can be emitted to generate a high-definition image and also invented the technology that allows the enhanced wave to pass through virtually any wall.
How exactly does one develop a "certain kind of ultra wadio wave", and how does one "allow it to pass through any wall". Perhaps they have a valid technology, but the person who translated this to layman's terms should be shot for creating a document that makes it sound like the company is selling smoke and mirrors.
Actually, the part of the article that I found most interesting was
Seeing inside a room is one thing, but realistically, the potential for invasion of privacy is much larger with the wiretap field.
Re:Very cool (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Our gratitude (Score:5, Interesting)
A low-resolution system is liable to lead to much more subjective interperetation in court. So you see the shape of the blob change slightly while he's at his computer. Is he drinking coffee or is he getting off looking at child porn?
Earthquake survivers (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:WorldNetDaily?!?! (Score:5, Interesting)
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Somehow I think I'll wait for independent confirmation of this "breakthrough." Especially since I routinely see articles proclaiming that Israeli scientists have invented everything from cold fusion to FTL drives and yet they somehow always fail to materialize in commercial form.
UWB has been around for a while. (Score:3, Interesting)
As often happens, it's just now making its slow way onto the civilian market.
Could they be using Terahertz Imaging? (Score:4, Interesting)
This article certainly lacks any technical details, but it sounds like the device may use a form of Terahertz imaging. This is the region of electromagnetic spectrum between microwave and infrared (0.1 GHz to >2 THz).
There has been a lot of recent activity involving Terahertz Imaging for medical and surveillance applications. TeraHertz Imaging [google.com]
Yes, it may be an invasion of privacy (Score:3, Interesting)
There was a case in which police used infrared scanners to see how hot/bright it was inside a house that they suspected having marijuana plants growing inside. When it came to trial, the attorney argued that because the police had no warrant to search the house, it was an illegal search. IIRC, the judge ruled that it was a violation of search and seizure laws. It's a good precedent, and because it sends out waves to spy (as opposed to passive scanning like the infrared did), it's even more invasive.
So, just get a good lawyer [aclu.org], and you should be set. That is, in theory.
Risk and Slealth and U.S. Taxpayer Dollars (Score:2, Interesting)
What would a counter measure be? A secondary wall with right angle shaping?
Finally:
"Israeli firms are well known for developing revolutionary technology, particularly in the defense fields."
Yup. A big part of that is proped up by U.S. tax dollar military aid and leaked tech from U.S. Firms. How nice.
--- quote from U.S. Military And Economic Aid Report
In recent years, Israel remains the top recipient of U.S. military and economic assistance. The most commonly cited figure is $3 billion a year, with about $1.8 billion a year in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants from the Department of Defense and an additional $1.2 billion a year in Economic Support Funds (ESF) from the Department of State. In the last decade FMF grants to Israel have totaled $18.2 billion. In fact, 17% of all U.S. foreign aid is earmarked for Israel.
Israel is one of the United State's largest arms importers. In the last decade, the United States has sold Israel $7.2 billion in weaponry and military equipment, $762 million through Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), more than $6.5 billion through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
source:
U.S. Military And Economic Aid Report [worldpolicy.org]
Of course we really don't "sell" much to Israel. It is mostly U.S. tax payers that pick up the tab. I don't have a problem with Israel defending themselves. I just don't see why I should pay for it.
Another project (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Used for "saving lives"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Behind walls eh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, most older buildings have steel mesh with plaster on them as a wall surface. It's frustrated quite a few hospital WiFi projects.
Re:rejected (Score:2, Interesting)
In an interview on March 31, 1977, Zahir Muhsein, member of the PLO's executive committee, said:
Now let me find a stopwatch with millisecond resolution, so I can time how long it takes for this post to be moderated (-1, Doubleplusungood)
Re:Our gratitude (Score:3, Interesting)
Oh, bull. You seem to be arguing that having any false positives are unacceptable. What if all the evidence that *was* available pointed very strongly to the accused, but by some enormous coincidence was wrong? You can't have a 'proven guilty beyond no doubt' standard, or no one would ever be convicted...
Re:Our gratitude (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Our gratitude (Score:2, Interesting)
The people who would prefer that the Exclusionary Rule, which is one of those "technicalities" that "get tough on crime!" people tend to bemoan, be left up to individual states are off their rockers, but their claims are not without constitutional merit. At least not from a literal interpretation of the Constitution.
Forget saving lives... (Score:3, Interesting)