US military 'rocks' spy world, literally.

The US military is developing miniature electronic sensors disguised as rocks that can be dropped from an aircraft and used to help detect the sound of approaching enemy combatants.

The devices, which would be no larger than a golf ball, could be ready for use in about 18 months. They use tiny silicon chips and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that is so sensitive that it can detect the sound of a human footfall at 20ft to 30ft. The project is being carried out by scientists at North Dakota State University, which has licensed nano-technology processes from Alien Technology, a California-based commercial manufacturer of RFID tags for supermarkets.

US military ‘rocks’ spy world
Here is a picture of some of them there 'spy rocks':


Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
The implications of this development are awesome, yet a bit scary if employed on a significant scale in a city or urban setting [not speaking necessarily about the motion sensors--talking about them be 'tweaked' for other tpe survellience/intelligence gathering].






seekerof

[edit on 25-7-2005 by Seekerof]

I don't know Seeker, I don't really have a problem with these being used domestically.

They sense movement via sound, and then send an alert to that effect to monitoring station X.

It's not as though they're collecting any sensitive data, and it's not as though they could be used to actually spy on people..yet.

This would be excellent perimeter control for secure military installations and other controlled-entry areas. They're inconspicuous and don't draw attention like standard surveillance equipment does.

I can see these being used to great effect by security companies in America. They even have potential for use by private citizens, for example, to alert them to burglaries when they're away from home. Or even better, parents could use them in the driveway to make sure their kids aren't partying when the folks go on vacation, if you hear a bunch of cars and foot traffic, you know something's up.

In the current incarnation I think they're particularly well suited for use along the Mexican border. This is nifty technology, thanks for posting it.

The one flaw I see is that they could easily be jammed, to prevent transmission of particulars, like the number of people running through the area. If they get jammed, the monitoring station is obviously going to know something's up, but still, they won't be able to discern what, without some form of back-up system.

its alot better than my idea of a giant transparent fake rock where a person can hide in and wait for an enemy to pass by before attacking, kinda like a spidertrap floor disguise as a ground in a way. in an urban city no doubt a giant fake rock would stand out, but i was thinking of having a giant rock in Afghanistan with sniper rifle and waiting and watching. transparency so u dont have to lift the rock to peek under to see wats goin on and u can just look through.

Wow, this is pretty interesting. As WyrdeOne said, these would do very well along the Mexican border. That is if the goverment actually cared about illegal immigration.

Either way if they can pick up footsteps at 20-30 feet, just think of how close we are to full surveillance. I mean, in just a few years the FBI could just drop a rock down the chimmney and they'd have complete audio of about half my house!

Still thats some pretty cool technology. Now how long before we start arming these rocks with explosives?

These will probably be used when marshall law is declared. No one is allowed out after 8: PM and if they wonder out, they are instantly located and shot.

It's the optimist in me that see's such things.

Wupy

[edit on 25-7-2005 by mrwupy]

Originally posted by mrwupy
These will probably be used when marshall law is declared. No one is allowed out after 8: PM and if they wonder out, they are instantly located and shot.

see...now i'm scared...

Originally posted by deltaboy
its alot better than my idea of a giant transparent fake rock where a person can hide in and wait for an enemy to pass by before attacking, kinda like a spidertrap floor disguise as a ground in a way. in an urban city no doubt a giant fake rock would stand out, but i was thinking of having a giant rock in Afghanistan with sniper rifle and waiting and watching. transparency so u dont have to lift the rock to peek under to see wats goin on and u can just look through.

Sorta like 1 way glass right? That would be an effective way of monitering areas, or spying on the enemy. But if a firefight broke out, what would happen if someone went to go and hide behind the fake rock?

[edit on 26-7-2005 by puppet]

It depends, if it was a hostile hiding behind the fake rock the sniper in side would get the easiest shot of his life.

If it was a friendly hiding behind the fake rock the rock would whisper, "Get the hell away from me dude, i'm a fake rock!"



Wupy

This is interesting. RFID tags are passive devices, that only become active when a "reader" is near. They are powered by the reader. These do not sound like RFID devices. All an RFID tag does is broadcast its serial number when a read is passed near it.

If it was the enemy maybe he would say "HEY! I FOUND A TALKING ROCK!!"

Well if you were really worried about these things you could always detonate an EMP or buy a frequency jammer. Also did you notice that it said the devices could detect a "human Football" i didnt know they made footballs with the skins of humans LOL.

Originally posted by horten229v3
Well if you were really worried about these things you could always detonate an EMP or buy a frequency jammer. Also did you notice that it said the devices could detect a "human Football" i didnt know they made footballs with the skins of humans LOL.

Human footFALL, not ball.

Also discussed this this (closed) thread:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 8-10-2005 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
Also discussed this this (closed) thread:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Well, hopefully with all the downtime lately they fixed the search engine cuz your thread didn't come up when I searched before starting another thread.

redmage,
All we can hope for is that amembers try. The search function sometimes won't pick up a topic. I just happened to remember having seen it before, and browsed through the pages of this forum.
Spy rocks tend to stick in your mind