United States. An insider's view of the industry of current surveillance and rescue systems that see through walls will offer hope to some and a new source of fear to others.
Aly Fathy, an engineering professor at the University of Tennessee, writes in an article in The Conversation, in which he indicates that scientists are developing tools that they are expected to see through walls with facial recognition details.
The advances come from federal funding and advances in radar sensors, algorithms, computer processing, millimeter wave wireless systems and broadband circuits. Together, they could deliver new levels of resolution and, almost equally important, near real-time video.
The sensitivity of the radar system is growing and that allows the receivers to pick up softer reflected electromagnetic waves that are reflected off solid objects on the other side of the walls. Faster computer processors are digesting the amount of incoming data. The best algorithms are translating the data into images useful for human interpretation and, in theory, perhaps biometric matching.
The expensive and difficult-to-implement millimeter-wave wireless technology that is the backbone of these tools is evolving into a technology that's priced and configured for more conventional and mobile functions, according to Fathy.
Although he opens his technology explainer with the tantalizing prospect of being able to look through the rubble to find people buried in an earthquake, the electrical engineer's work is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security.
The article offers no timelines and is cautious about what reality is and what is simply possible. Fathy delves into frothy speculation, saying the technology could go beyond the already heady promise of facial recognition through walls to measure heartbeat and breathing, again without setting expectations accordingly.
Of course, expectations might be misplaced right now, as the U.S. military (and, without a doubt, the intelligence community) powers these systems. If research proves, even partially, government spending will be substantial, speeding up the day when the features are simply a phone app.
Source: www.biometricupdate.com
