German scholars at the Technical University of Munich have developed a scanning technology that uses the Wi-Fi signal to build three-dimensional holographic images. This technology would be helpful in disaster relief operations.
Philipp Holl, one of the researchers, said “virtually one can scan a camera with wireless network transmission.” The new invention was published in the Physical Review Letters, writes Futurism.
The technology is extremely simple and takes advantage of the Wi-Fi ability to pass through the walls. Using two antennas, you can record the wireless field around a room. Antennas capture the intensity and phase of the Wi-Fi field from both the source and the locations where the signal is reflected. The result is a holographic image of the room, which, although not very detailed, proves that this concept goes into practice, not only in science fiction films.
The possibilities of this technology are many and it is the question of privacy violation. In this respect, Friedemann Reinhard, a research team member, says that “in the near future, technology is unlikely to be used to monitor foreign cameras. For that, you have to move around the building with a large antenna, which would be easy to be seen.”
But technology has many beneficial applications in disaster relief operations such as avalanches or earthquakes. The antennas can be placed in a vehicle that moves around the rubble to find survivors more easily.
Technology is still in the beginning, for example, in the future, the specific transparency of the various materials can be improved.
