Dopler radar signal animation

Wow, this is impressive!

Detecting Human Activities Through Barriers: Doppler Radar Signals Become Animation

University of Texas professor Hao Ling and Ph.D. candidate, Shobha Ram, are one step closer to making x-ray vision a reality. They are perfecting radar systems that can detect human activities through barriers and convert the signals to virtual renderings similar to that of a video game.

"There are several ongoing research programs in through-wall imaging, but they focus on building hardware sensors with very specific capabilities, says Ling. "That's expensive. What we want to do in this project is to first understand how human movements are manifested in radar data. Then utilize this knowledge to generate an image of a human."

Doppler based radio frequency radar systems are particularly suited for tracking moving humans. They suppress background clutter from stationary objects and provide enough detail to show the dynamic movements of different body parts, in the form of "microDopplers".

I know they have current systems that can detect things like hearts beating through barriers, but being able to display an animation of people and what they are doing is seriously amazing sci-fi technology.

The implications on search and rescue is awesome, I can imagine many cases where this could save lives. But the potential for invasion of privacy or worse in a police state / dictatorship is quite scary. Combined with new age weaponry, they can decide to kill you without even seeing you or you seeing them.

[edit on 25/9/08 by Shere Khaan]