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Wireless Network Modded To See Through Walls

KentuckyFC writes "The way radio signals vary in a wireless network can reveal the movement of people behind closed doors, say researchers who have developed a technique called variance-based radio tomographic imaging which processes wireless signals to peer through walls. They've tested the idea with a 34-node wireless network using the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless protocol (the personal area network protocol employed by home automation services such as ZigBee). The researchers say that such a network could be easily distributed by the police or military wanting to determine what's going on inside a building. But such a network, which uses cheap off-the-shelf components, might also be easily deployed by your neighbor or anybody else wanting to monitor movements in your home."

161 comments

  1. Kids by sopssa · · Score: 4, Funny

    wanting to determine what's going on inside a building.

    Now when teens want to sneak out at night, they can easily see thru walls if their parents are sleeping!

    1. Re:Kids by tag · · Score: 5, Funny

      And imagine the teens' surprise and horror when they discover their parents aren't "sleeping" at all...

    2. Re:Kids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      And imagine the parents' surprise when their teens upload them to YouPorn.

    3. Re:Kids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kids who know how to do that don't sneak out at night, they are called geeks

    4. Re:Kids by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unless they are sneaking out to the local linux kernel developer's symposium.

    5. Re:Kids by sopssa · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I would think that many of the early hacker culture geeks sneaked out a lot at night - for phone phreaking, to find computer parts etc.

    6. Re:Kids by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sneaking out at night to find computer parts? Were the parts roaming around in the wilderness at nick back then or something?

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    7. Re:Kids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone named 'nick' must have been on your mind. I hate it when that happens.

    8. Re:Kids by Lumpy · · Score: 0, Troll

      There must be a lot of lame parents that do the super silent wiggle. Even when trying to be quiet my wife and I are loud enough that my 17 year old turns up the stereo at the other end of the house.

      Granted most people are dysfunctional and believe that Sex=Icky and there fore lead a very sad life.

      back when I was in college, everyone knew, if the windows were open you could hear us for miles on a summer night...

      You haven lived life if you have not had wild romper set with a screamer..

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    9. Re:Kids by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Any teenager who doesn't know his parents fuck has led a truly sheltered life. OTOH imagine the parents' surprise when they find that little Suzy isn't alone in her bedroom.

    10. Re:Kids by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes...

      Actually buddies of mine weould make a late night pilgramage to Benton Harbor, MI to tresspass on the HeathKit compound to go dumpster diving. WE almost got caught about 8 times. I got enough out of their dumpsters to build my first IBM-XT and a HERO-I robot back in the late 80's.

      In fact it was my buddies that started heathkit destroying things they put in the trash. One of them got greedy and started selling the crap we got out of the dumpsters.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    11. Re:Kids by Kokuyo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      While I agree with your last statement, I do have to wonder about your idea of common courtesy. My wife and I usually close the window.

      Talking about dysfunctional, though, it seems strange that your kid feels the need to turn up the stereo. I still can not believe that the thought of your own parents having sex is 'icky' to people without something having gone wrong in their sexual upbringing (and I, too, find the thought of my parents having sex 'icky', make no mistake).

      In our household, sex is discussed very openly today and I sure as hell won't change that just because kids have taken over the house ;).

    12. Re:Kids by story645 · · Score: 1

      Talking about dysfunctional, though, it seems strange that your kid feels the need to turn up the stereo.

      It's just a matter of boundaries/personal space and intrusiveness. Listening to other people have sex feels voyeuristic, and voyeurism on parents is a level of ick. I prefer my brother's stereo blaring for the same reason when he's fooling around with his gf. (Our beds are on opposite sides of a really pathetic wall.)

      --
      open source modern art: laser taggi
    13. Re:Kids by sukotto · · Score: 1

      Do you also celebrate the First of May?
      I do and it's awesome

      --
      Come play free flash games on Kongregate!
    14. Re:Kids by RazzleDazzle · · Score: 1

      More likely imaging the teens' surprise and horror when their parents spill the beans that RFID+GPS tracking units have been surgically implanted on them by the parents. MUAHWAHAWHAWHAHWHAWH!!!! I can haz your breadcrumb trail.

      Fake hearts that pump continuously, GPS tracking / RFID, indoor thru wall tracking, nanites in the body, controlling computers directly with your brain, van eck phreaking, life-like cgi and hologram, quantum computing, hmmm... sounds like some of those older "sci-fi" books are going to have to get re-categorized as history books pretty soon.

      --
      ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ONE! Just brushing up for my next big invention: Ethernet over Voice (EoV)
    15. Re:Kids by jdoverholt · · Score: 1

      I wonder how obscure this reference is. Always brings a smile to my face :-)

    16. Re:Kids by cawpin · · Score: 1

      without something having gone wrong in their sexual upbringing (and I, too, find the thought of my parents having sex 'icky', make no mistake)

      So what happened to you?

    17. Re:Kids by AdamThor · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My dad worked for Heathkit, wrote the user manual for the Hero 1. We had one in our house for a while when I was a kid. I was too young to do much with it though.

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    18. Re:Kids by sopssa · · Score: 1

      Yes, everyone knows it. But it's an another thing to actually see it (or even hear it, for that matter)

    19. Re:Kids by HiThere · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Depending on your decade and location ... Fry's was a grocery store that was open all night...and had this large tech section.

      Now it's an electronics store with the emphasis on consumer, and it's no longer open all night. But that's one place where it started around 1960. (I was just too early, and just too far away...but I sure heard about it!)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    20. Re:Kids by Darinbob · · Score: 2, Funny

      Decades later, and I'm still traumatized by remembering my 60 year old landlady, her 70 year old boyfriend, and the sound conducting air vents.

    21. Re:Kids by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 3, Funny

      Grampa Simpson: Unsatisfying sex life?
      Homer: N -- yes. But please, don't you say that word!
      Grampa Simpson: What, seeex? What's so unappealing about hearing your elderly father talk about sex? I had seeeeex.

    22. Re:Kids by EvilBudMan · · Score: 1

      This is just one more reason to stock up on tin foil.

    23. Re:Kids by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      What would be worse is seeing mom and stepdad. Even an adult doesn't want to think of his parent having sex with anyone but their other parent.

    24. Re:Kids by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      sounds like some of those older "sci-fi" books are going to have to get re-categorized as history books pretty soon.

      Soon?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    25. Re:Kids by electrons_are_brave · · Score: 1
      I don't find it in the least odd that the kid feels the need to turn up the stereo. It's like hearing someone in the toilet - sure it's natural and not the end of the world if you hear someone thundering away, but if you can turn up the TV then that's best for everyone.

      This is why rich people live in big houses with thick walls - they can afford more privacy.

  2. Fear mongering by skornenicholas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Went straight for the "everyone is spying on me!" ploy a little quick there. Seriously, if anything my neighbors request to see LESS of my movements. This may be due to the fact that I have a clear shower curtain and my bathroom doors lines up to a big bay window facing the road...took me two months to realize that one.

  3. Tinfoil House by TyIzaeL · · Score: 3, Funny

    Looks like it is time to get hold of some Aluminum Oxide paint.

    1. Re:Tinfoil House by pak9rabid · · Score: 2, Informative

      Looks like it is time to get hold of some Aluminum Oxide paint.

      Looks like it is time to start making cell phone calls from outside.

    2. Re:Tinfoil House by giltwist · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While a coat of aluminum oxide does count as a Faraday cage, I believe thickness is real issue with the protective power. Paint is only a few molecules thick (relatively) to the more traditional wire mesh. If you were going to build a new house, I think you'd be better including a brass mesh in the walls of your house.

    3. Re:Tinfoil House by goldmaneye · · Score: 1

      Nah, it's too cold for that where I live. Looks like it's time to get one of those old-fashioned "land lines" installed (like your parents have, or maybe used to have).

      In fact, as a general solution to some of the loss-of-privacy implications of new technology, may I suggest ... old technology?

    4. Re:Tinfoil House by Aging_Newbie · · Score: 3, Informative

      Aluminum oxide is a dielectric with breakdown around 16kV/mm and dielectric constant of 9. That puts the material in a class similar to glass. As such it would be among the most ineffective Faraday cages since the walls of such a cage must be conductive, and to be truly effective, VERY Conductive. In fact, at high RF ranges light weight cages and shielding have to be made of silver, gold, etc. to keep the skin effect thickness of the material down to manageable values. What is interesting about the aluminum oxide dielectric is its apparent very lossy nature to some RF frequencies, while being "transparent" to others. That is sort of similar to the behavior of pure water, which, if absolutely pure, is a dielectric, but as a polar dielectric it absorbs high frequencies in your microwave oven or in the atmosphere between me and my geosynchronous internet satellite.

      The usefulness of aluminum oxide as a dielectric has been known a long time and electrolytic capacitors used as power supply filters, among other things, use its characteristics to make large capacitances in small volumes.

    5. Re:Tinfoil House by TyIzaeL · · Score: 1

      I still have a land line, its much more reliable than cell service.

    6. Re:Tinfoil House by donutz · · Score: 1

      "Looks like it is time to start making cell phone calls from outside."

      Maybe not, if the cell tower is overhead, and you didn't paint the ceilings?

    7. Re:Tinfoil House by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why in the world would you use a cell phone inside your own house?!

    8. Re:Tinfoil House by bertoelcon · · Score: 1

      You could just VoIP on Wifi, no reason to go outside.

      --
      Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
    9. Re:Tinfoil House by Jared555 · · Score: 1

      Something I don't get is why no one mentioned the option of getting a cell phone repeater (I don't think I saw it in the other article). Block all the signals except the ones you WANT coming in/out of the house. In the case of AM/FM radios most home stereos can be hooked up to an outside antenna pretty easily.

    10. Re:Tinfoil House by Changa_MC · · Score: 1

      What else would I do? Pay for a wire into my house so that I could force people to use multiple numbers to reach me? I'm not important enough to have more than one phone number, thanks anyway.

      --
      Changa hates change.
    11. Re:Tinfoil House by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Looks like it is time to start making cell phone calls from outside.

      That's right - the bad guys' behind-the-walls vision technology will be completely thwarted.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  4. tinfoil paint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Solution - Anti-wi-fi paint offers security:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8279549.stm

  5. They're a little late... by ibsteve2u · · Score: 5, Funny

    What with three wireless hubs, an RFID scanner, and half-a-dozen Bluetooth devices always on, I'm pretty sure I'm already casting EMF shadows on my walls.

    Been seeing some really big spiders, too...

    --
    Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
    1. Re:They're a little late... by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oh, OH! Let a spider bite you and let us know the results!

  6. Reference past article... by carp3_noct3m · · Score: 2, Funny

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/30/1534202/Using-Aluminum-Oxide-Paint-To-Secure-Wi-Fi?art_pos=19

    Step 1:Paint your house with it.
    Step 2: Install a Faraday cage in the dungeon *ahem* basement.
    Step 3: ??????
    Step 4: Privacy!!!!

    --
    "It's ok, I'm completely secure as long as my iron is off"
    1. Re:Reference past article... by AniVisual · · Score: 1

      The resolution seems to be quite poor, it does not seem to be able to identify shapes, only movement. You won't be able to identify the person who broke into your home, let alone be worried about wifi pics of nudity. Sometimes, threats to our privacy get overly hyped.

      I am not an engineer, but if you live in a city apartment, there is usually so much interference that hacking wifi to pinpoint areas of low signal may not be very effective.

  7. Old News by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    I have already seen this being deployed by the Blue Thunder helicopter. Way back in the 80s.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Old News by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      That was thermal imaging. I distinctly remember seeing Colonel Cochrane (Malcomn McDowell) chatting in a room with a couple of people several floors up, curtains closed with Frank McMurphy (Bruce Schneider) hovering outside in Blue Thunder looking at a false colour thermal image of the room contents.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    2. Re:Old News by iron-kurton · · Score: 1

      Didn't they also do something like this in the Dark Knight? But I think there was a device inside the structure, not a bunch of them outside, which would make truth more exciting than fiction.

      --
      Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
    3. Re:Old News by phulegart · · Score: 1

      Nope.

      Dark Knight used audio. Batman tapped into every phone to be able to turn them all on and hear what was going on... like a BAT does with SONAR....

      Get it?

      Bats? Batman? Sonar?

      --
      "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." -D. Adams
    4. Re:Old News by iron-kurton · · Score: 1

      Actually, a sonar works by emitting a sound, and then listening how long it takes for the sound to return when it bounces off an object.

      In the Dark Knight, unless the phones actually emitted some kind of audible noise (or if the phones were capable of producing sound >50Khz, which is probably not the case), it would be incorrect to call them sonars. Instead, they triangulated the sounds coming from the bad guys using multiple phones in order to produce an image, so, while actually much cooler than sonar, it's not a sonar.

      And yeah, I got it, thanks.

      --
      Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
  8. Aluminum oxide by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Slashdot saving you from Slashdot http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/30/1534202/Using-Aluminum-Oxide-Paint-To-Secure-Wi-Fi?from=rss

  9. Oh noes! by onyxruby · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Horrible, a piece of technology could be abused if used in a certain way by evil and nefarious bad guys. We'll have to ban this wireless technology just in case they're out to get us. Breakout the crowbars, put on the night vision goggles, prep the bolt cutters for backup and defend yourself with the glass cutter before they break in. Tinfoil hats to the rescue!

    1. Re:Oh noes! by sopssa · · Score: 1

      Well, this would be quite hard to notice if used for you. Police/Military would probably need to get permission to use it, but that wont stop all the kids and pervert adults.

    2. Re:Oh noes! by leuk_he · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, the girl from next door is offered free wireless in her bedroom! What could be wrong with that?

    3. Re:Oh noes! by amplt1337 · · Score: 1

      Police/Military would probably need to get permission to use it

      The way they need to get permission to wiretap your phone?

      --
      Freedom isn't free; its price is the well-being of others.
    4. Re:Oh noes! by girlintraining · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, the girl from next door is offered free wireless in her bedroom! What could be wrong with that?

      Two things: First, the photoshopped porn out there looks a lot better than me naked, so I'm not exactly worried about grainy black and white photos showing my outline getting any kind of popularity online. If these were at all popular, TSA employees would be getting fired left and right for sharing with their friends. Apparently, they're just not any kind of a turn-on. Secondly -- I have been teaching my friends how to access that free wireless and let me just say, Mr. Johnson, Age 34 of Sacremento, CA, that buying a HP laptop with integrated webcam has given us all a laugh. You've been weighed, measured, and found wanting. Also, are you ever planning on enabling Windows Firewall and patching past SP2?

      Sincerely,

      The girl next door.

      P.S. Really sorry about the disconnect notice from Comcast, but it wasn't from filesharing like you're assuming. I wanted to mirror all the slashfic on fanfiction.net. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I've since deleted most of it -- too much harryxhermione, not enough malfoyxsnape.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    5. Re:Oh noes! by Ranzear · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Or you can just paint your house with aluminum oxide

      --
      Slashdot: Where opinions are just opinions until you have mod points.
  10. Well, thats Gonna sell that new Al-O paint by PalmKiller · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Sounds like another vote for that new aluminum oxide radio signal killing paint.

    1. Re:Well, thats Gonna sell that new Al-O paint by PalmKiller · · Score: 1

      Yes, sorry I should have read on down a bit before I replied :)

  11. if you're a real nutter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now you need not only a battering ram proof doors and acrylic windows, but also lead in your walls.

  12. I can already monitor the movements of my neighbor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Terribly thin floors & cielings mean that I can monitor where my upstairs neighbor is and what he is doing at all times.

    Of course my neighbors can monitor when I have sex and how good it is, but I kind of get off on that anyway...

  13. The Dark Knight by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2, Informative

    Didn't Batman have some goggles that work like this in The Dark Knight?

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:The Dark Knight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's the first thing I thought of when I saw this story too... similar type of concept. I doubt you could get real-time goggles like he had or a true city-wide system but the theoretic applications here could be a little scary.

      Now excuse me while I replace my vinyl siding with tinfoil....

    2. Re:The Dark Knight by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      Now excuse me while I replace my vinyl siding with tinfoil....

      IIRC if your house hs Tyvek sheets under the siding then there's already a layer of foil around the walls . . .

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    3. Re:The Dark Knight by evilkasper · · Score: 1

      I was going to say Batman did it first.. although he used cell phones.... all of them (at least in Gotham)

    4. Re:The Dark Knight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I Got the Gist that Batman used the cells for acoustic tomography, This sound more like EM tomography.

    5. Re:The Dark Knight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kent Brockman also had something similar:

      KENT: Of course, there's no way to see into the Simpson home without some kind of infrared heat sensitive camera. So let's turn it on.

      AC

    6. Re:The Dark Knight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Tyvek is paper, with controlled porosity, to let air and water vapor through whilst keeping out dust. You are probably thinking of foil-backed fibreglas wool.

    7. Re:The Dark Knight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wrong.

  14. Worried about people spying on you? by devnullkac · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This sounds like a job for... Aluminum Oxide Paint!

    --
    What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!
    1. Re:Worried about people spying on you? by skornenicholas · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Aluminum Oxide on the inside, Lead paint on the outside, huzzah you live in a microwave oven!

  15. Re:Fear mongering by sopssa · · Score: 1

    I have some same kind of experiences too. I live in 16th floor and theres huge window out of the living room. It's a nice view out, but theres other tall building nearly too and you can nicely see inside each other apartments.

    Being the comfortable guy that I am, I do however like to spend my time naked while at home (and while posting to slashdot too). They do not need a device to see me; one of the curtains is broken, so theres nothing I can do about it.

  16. ah ha! by Dyinobal · · Score: 1

    I see The Dark Knight movie had it wrong!

  17. Who cares about the neighbors spying? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm more worried about robbers. Lucky for me I have a huge train set and a life size cut out of Michael Jordan to fool them with.

  18. Pad Picture by z80kid · · Score: 1
    The only picture in TFA was a blob.

    Get back to me when it can see tits....

    1. Re:Pad Picture by iron-kurton · · Score: 1

      You have to squint, kind of like in the days of analog TV with scrambled channels...

      --
      Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
  19. Neighbors by Masterofpsi · · Score: 1

    "But such a network, which uses cheap off-the-shelf components, might also be easily deployed by your neighbor or anybody else wanting to monitor movements in your home." They make it sound as if someone's likely to spy on the readers of the article. But given the Slashdot population, isn't it more likely to be the other way around?

    1. Re:Neighbors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Very enthusiastically agreeing with each other... haven't you been listening at all?

    2. Re:Neighbors by sskagent · · Score: 1

      Sounds like they're entering cheat codes.

  20. Another system to be blocked with cheap hardware by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 1

    Personally, I think I'll set up a Van DeGraff generator. Really adds to the mad scientist lair effect too.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
  21. Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by mantis2009 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Investigative reporter Seymour Hersh said that the U.S. military had developed a secret new technology for use in urban warfare. He said the technology was revolutionary, equivalent to the first time tanks were deployed on the battlefield. From what I remember, there was speculation that Hersh had learned that the military could now see through walls.

    1. Re:Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by dintech · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And we're one step closer to Aliens-esque movemnet detector...

    2. Re:Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by TrippTDF · · Score: 1

      i remember reading that as well. I would be willing to bet their tech is similar to this.

    3. Re:Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by FooAtWFU · · Score: 1

      No. The US Military had simply discovered Segway personal mobility devices.

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
    4. Re:Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This isn't new technology. I was able to obtain these from my adolescent graphic periodicals many years ago: http://www.fakecrap.com/products/xray_specs.html

    5. Re:Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by gad_zuki! · · Score: 0

      I say this as a liberal, but Seymour Hersh is full of shit. Every few months he has some new breathless expose or other incredible statement. His reports usually dont name sources other than anonymous or offer any evidence. Yes, he's correct on occasion like when he broke the My Lai story, but he deals strictly with the rumormill so he has to get lucky sometime. Usually, he can be dismissed, but he does know how to sell papers and books.

    6. Re:Seymour Hersh hinted at this a few years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Combine this with ocular implants, and we'll be able to literally see through walls!

  22. Re:Fear mongering by MisterSquid · · Score: 1

    They do not need a device to see me; one of the curtains is broken, so theres nothing I can do about it.

    Presuming you rent, take it to management. Hopefully they will care enough to keep the apartment in good condition (I know that's a big if). If you own, get off your duff and fix it, just like you would fix your computer if something went wrong.

    --
    blog
  23. Excellent... by mrops · · Score: 1

    ..now they can really prosecute people for sodomy.

    1. Re:Excellent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think they might have to wait for a clearer picture. Two blobs in close proximity could be a lot of things. I think you're safe to continue for a while yet.

    2. Re:Excellent... by CamDawg · · Score: 1

      Just replying to remove my accidental mod point expenditure.

  24. Neighbors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Up, down, up, down, what the heck are they doing?

  25. Re:Fear mongering by mrsurb · · Score: 2, Funny

    You owe me a new mind's eye, I had to poke it out to get rid of that mental image.

  26. I'm not worried about wifi by OglinTatas · · Score: 1

    the architect who designed my home put a floor to ceiling window RIGHT NEXT TO THE TOILET. I applied privacy film to the glass, and keep the shade down, and the lights off... no, I'm not worried about my neighbors using wifi to monitor my movements...

    1. Re:I'm not worried about wifi by amplt1337 · · Score: 1

      Wow, I'm surprised you didn't notice that before you had the plans built... (or do you mean the architect who designed your model?)

      --
      Freedom isn't free; its price is the well-being of others.
  27. Device invented to see through walls! by Lord+Lode · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's called a window.

    1. Re:Device invented to see through walls! by drseuk · · Score: 1

      If you've got Windows you've installed too many.

    2. Re:Device invented to see through walls! by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1

      It's called a window.

      So windows are insecure.... what else is new?

    3. Re:Device invented to see through walls! by CannonballHead · · Score: 1

      Microsoft was ahead of its time!

    4. Re:Device invented to see through walls! by iron-kurton · · Score: 1

      I heard you can throw a party to install one of those.

      --
      Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine -- Robert C. Gallagher
  28. I've got some paint I want to sell you by FreeUser · · Score: 1

    This should solve any peeping Tom/Big Bro Cop issues we have. Get out your paintbrush, ladder, and overalls...

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
  29. Re:Fear mongering by Thaelon · · Score: 2, Informative

    What, did you shower with your eyes closed?

    How do you not realize that you can see the road from the shower if people can see in the shower from the road?

    --

    Question everything

  30. Proof Reading?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's ambitious but shoudl they ge ttheir system to the point where it can be used like this it raises another problem: the issue of privacy.
    Good job!

  31. Google Maps? by Zantac69 · · Score: 2, Informative
    This cracked me up:

    "We envision a building imaging scenario similar to the following. Emergency responders, military forces, or police arrive at a scene where entry into a building is potentially dangerous. ... The nodes immediately form a network and self-localize, perhaps using information about the size and shape of the building from a database (eg Google maps) and some known-location coordinates (eg using GPS).

    Anyone remember http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_bombing_of_the_Chinese_embassy_in_Belgrade?

    Oops! Map was wrong and we are in the wrong house!

    --
    1331461 is only semiprime *sigh* Alas - I am just short of 1337.
    1. Re:Google Maps? by westlake · · Score: 1

      Oops! Map was wrong and we are in the wrong house!

      The occupants and first responders are still at far less risk than if the entry was made blindly.

    2. Re:Google Maps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that was definitely an accident. It was definitely not a way to slap China while providing enough plausible deniability to avoid actually going to war with China.

  32. I think I see a problem here. by westlake · · Score: 1

    Step 1 Paint your house with iy.
    Step 2: Install a Faraday cage in the basement.

    Some folks step out into the light and air.

    Which means they'll want WiFi access on the porch, the back yard - the patio and the sundeck.

    1. Re:I think I see a problem here. by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Which means they'll want WiFi access on the porch, the back yard - the patio and the sundeck.

      I think you mean the front observation deck, the firing range, and the snipers nest.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    2. Re:I think I see a problem here. by Foofoobar · · Score: 1

      Don't need to see through walls when your outside... duh!

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    3. Re:I think I see a problem here. by westlake · · Score: 1

      Don't need to see through walls when your outside... duh!

      True. But you might want network access outside without installing an antenna on your roof.

    4. Re:I think I see a problem here. by Foofoobar · · Score: 1

      WTF?!! Yes... I do alot of surfing while on my roof installing antennaes. LOL.

      Seriously though, the connection goes through windows not covered with aluminum oxide and other holes in your barrier. No house will ever be a complete faraday cage and for something like this, all you have to do is eliminate a large percentage of them to reduce the bounce so as to make the 'shapes' it reports back too vague. In other words... it would be less of a faraday cage and more like 'chafe' to cause interference.

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    5. Re:I think I see a problem here. by Idiomatick · · Score: 1

      I think I know the point you were trying to get at...

      I believe you could paint yourself with aluminium and wear a faraday cage as clothes from when you go outside.

  33. Something the community can get into by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You can get xbee-equipped computers (mostly with pics, avrs, basic stamps, etc) for super cheap, like three for a bill. I'm considering them for a remote monitoring and control application where wifi is overkill in some ways and inadequate in others (line of sight issues.) Current xbee modules all seem to support mesh networking, which is really the big draw to me of the protocol itself here, or at least the most readily available implementation. Being able to put out a sensor net and get a sort of meta-sense out of it would be all the more exciting. I'm sure the same thought has occurred to everyone, of course. This seems like the kind of thing that would give the [para]military types a massive hard-on given that they're already playing with the idea of gigantic numbers of drones and communications devices scattered across the battlefields of tomorrow... and our homes and cities.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Something the community can get into by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      This looks like great technology. It also appears to be GPL-incompatible and not landable in linux, my development platform of preference.

      Anybody here using free alternatives?

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  34. I know its bad form to reply to yourself but.. by carp3_noct3m · · Score: 1

    I just thought of something... What if the company who developed the paint had this story ready (bribing of researchers) to release right after they announced their paint. Instant interest/sales increase...stroke of genius!

    --
    "It's ok, I'm completely secure as long as my iron is off"
  35. Oh shi... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't tell UK government about it.

  36. Re:Kids - OMG!!! by iCantSpell · · Score: 1

    So that's what that looks like! I never knew what that sound was before.

  37. Too cumbersome. by AniVisual · · Score: 3, Interesting

    by "interrogating" this volume of space with many signals, picked up by multiple receivers, it is possible to build up a picture of the movement within it.

    As I understand, the researchers used 34 receivers. You will need a whole lot of receivers. More than you might want to buy and maintain to offer you what is at best a poor resolution of moving things beyond walls.

    1. Re:Too cumbersome. by Firehed · · Score: 1

      No kidding. I'm a lot less likely to notice a cleverly-placed webcam than three dozen new WiFi APs.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
  38. Wow innovation! by rahlquist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Discerning the physical location and movement of an object with radio waves, what can we call such a thing?

    Ahh, yes, Radar...

    --
    Sick of stupidity? http://www.patentlystupid.com
    1. Re:Wow innovation! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      However, this isn't radar, it's tomography. Radio tomography. And the innovation isn't radio tomography, it's using stock WiFi hardware to do it, but I suspect you already knew that.

    2. Re:Wow innovation! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not tomography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomography is scanned slices which are mathematically reconstructed and rendered as an image.

  39. Re:Fear mongering by ArsenneLupin · · Score: 1

    spend my time naked while at home (and while posting to slashdot too).

    or worse, while following links in Slashdot... But wouldn't that be as shocking even if you were fully dressed?

  40. Re:Fear mongering by cicuz · · Score: 1

    "That's because you're facing the rock, Caboose"

  41. Ash did it better.... by WalesAlex · · Score: 1

    ...I still think measuring microchanges in air density is the way to go!

  42. OK I'll paint my house... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Hmmm... where can I buy some cans of Aluminum Oxide paint?

  43. Competition by lbgator · · Score: 2, Informative

    Although this thing idea is neat, there is an Israeli company that is currently selling RF tech to do the same thing. It comes in a package the size of a suitcase, and can be deployed without having to put transmitters/receivers all over the place. Check it out.

    I actually applied to work for that company but wasn't smart enough. Blasted Israelis and their blasted smarter-than-me-ness.

    1. Re:Competition by lbgator · · Score: 1
    2. Re:Competition by petgiraffe · · Score: 1

      That's why you didn't get the job.

      --
      -- The reader anything less than completely failing to not misunderstand this sig is cursed.
  44. I did some searching, here's a video: by mckinnsb · · Score: 3, Informative

    The image in the article isn't really good. If you want to see a demonstration of what they did in real time, it's here.

    1. Re:I did some searching, here's a video: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After watching the video, I now know that if someone is surrounding my house with wireless transmitters spaced a few feet apart, they might be spying on my movements!

  45. Re:Fear mongering by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe he only showers every two months?

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  46. Country life by boristdog · · Score: 2, Funny

    Another advantage of living in the country.

    If someone is within 1 km of my house (and I doubt this system has that kind of range) the dogs and various livestock alert me WAY before that person can see my movements. And those movements will be important to that person at this point. Especially the "cocking the shotgun" movement.

    1. Re:Country life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Props to you, friend. My sentiments exactly. Country folk will survive.

  47. Videos at their website by shadow_slicer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Check out their demonstration videos at http://span.ece.utah.edu/radio-tomographic-imaging.

    I was fortunate enough to see the demo at Mobicom last year. It's a really neat application, even if the math is nothing new.

  48. Cracker risk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this mean that a cracker could load my router with software and use it to spy on me?

  49. Ah, propellerheads, hello? by TheHawke · · Score: 2, Informative

    They just reinvented RADAR for pity's sake! What is 802.xx? 2-5GHZ Microwave frequencies! It's rather like reinventing the wheel, only this time they used millimeter band, low powered microwaves to do it with. Hooray they are able to use it as a poor man's license-free RADAR system, I'll give them credit for that.

    --
    First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
  50. Thank goodness for Kyllo vs. U.S. by cpu_fusion · · Score: 3, Informative

    ... wherein the Supreme Court (including Scalia, amazingly) held that peering into homes using equipment that was not available in common use by the layperson was within the bounds of the 4th amendment, and therefore requires a search warrant.

    1. Re:Thank goodness for Kyllo vs. U.S. by SleazyRidr · · Score: 1

      Isn't the point of this article that it can be done using materials that are available and in common use by laypeople?

    2. Re:Thank goodness for Kyllo vs. U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...except, of course, that as of this article, this equipment IS available for common use by the layperson.

    3. Re:Thank goodness for Kyllo vs. U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea but this is using stock equipment that IS available/in use to the common layperson. That's the whole story here, not that people can see through walls but how they are doing it. That means this won't require a search warrant...

  51. shhhh, dont say windows! by Phizzle · · Score: 1

    Careful, this is Slashdot, any mention of working instances of "windows" will get you modded down and flamed.

    --
    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
  52. In 20 years..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    .....Ninja's will give up their traditional black garb, to be replaced by WiFi transparent meta materials.

    1. Re:In 20 years..... by wavemancali · · Score: 2, Informative

      George Takei and Robert Apsrin predicted this in "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe" in 1979.

  53. Helmet, check by aGF2c2hleA · · Score: 1

    Looks like I'll need a tinfoil suit as well!

    --
    _-_-_GSLUG_-_-_
    1. Re:Helmet, check by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure that if you wear a tinfoil suit, you'll be more easily tracked, because you cast stronger "WiFi shadows."

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  54. This is easy to beat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just this post from yesterday's Slashdot will beat this kind of cheap technology.

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/30/1534202/Using-Aluminum-Oxide-Paint-To-Secure-Wi-Fi

  55. Re:Fear mongering by bertoelcon · · Score: 1

    I thought your place got sold to Ross.

    --
    Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
  56. Re:Fear mongering by SleazyRidr · · Score: 3, Funny

    The trick is to imagine the poster as a hot 19 year old chick, who refers to herself as a guy because she's a lesbian.

  57. Re:Fear mongering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    showering? we all no nobody showers especially computer people....

  58. I already have this feature by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

    If anybody sneezes my laptop notifies me by disconnecting form the network.

    --
    IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
  59. Re:Fear mongering by Jared555 · · Score: 1

    Although if they own the other tall buildings they might consider the rentability factor after too many people look out their window at the wrong time.

  60. Churning butter. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You know, for the Halloween party -- that's why they're dressed as Cats and Darth Vader (but what's with that hotpink saber)?

  61. Winter evenings will fly by... by Unicorn+Setu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Whew! Imagine the fun the neighbours could have watching which room you're in: "They're watching TV, they're watching TV, they've put the the kettle on, they're watching TV...." I'm sure it will be worth the effort of setting up 32 receivers and a suitable transmitter and calibrating it - all so the neighbours can work out which room I'm in. The winter evenings are going to just fly by.....

    --
    Unicorn Setu. "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines".
  62. Re:I can already monitor the movements of my neigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your neighbors are stealing your cable porn channel? Also, perhaps you should also use some lubricant so that your neighbors can't hear you masturbate

  63. I can't sh1t when I'm uncomfortable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Maybe the architect was one of those Hobo/hindus that can shit whenever he wants, like how they do on National Geographic and Feed The Children. At least they're using casted molten sand (glass) instead of shanty wood and beancans for his bathroom.

  64. Marauding by Trebawa · · Score: 1

    I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!

  65. Re:I can already monitor the movements of my neigh by couchslug · · Score: 1

    "Of course my neighbors can monitor when I have sex and how good it is,"

    Those IBM Model Ms ARE rather loud...

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  66. Re:Fear mongering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure this'd be just great for door-to-door salespeople, door-to-door petition-signature-collectors, bill collectors, your ex-girlfriend, thieves wanting to safely break in to your house and take your stuff, and a host of other people who have no damn business knowing if you are *really* at home or not.

    Forget the tin-foil hat; better line your *walls and ceilings* with tin-foil.

  67. 'But' by dugeen · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Interesting implication that, while your neighbours shouldn't be monitoring what you're doing inside your own house, it's perfectly acceptable for the police and the army to be watching you in this way.

  68. Obligatory star trek reference. by Vrtigo1 · · Score: 1

    Picard: Mr. Data, do we have a tomographic imaging scanner onboard? Data: Yes, sir.

  69. Doctorow wrote about this. by mick129 · · Score: 1

    This concept was in Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes To Town, Someone Leaves Town. A mesh network was set up throughout the city. People were encouraged to use & extend it for free. Eventually the protagonist used it to monitor someone during a foot chase around the neighborhood. Good stuff.

    --
    Move along, no sig to see here.