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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."

21 of 161 comments (clear)

  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 Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    4. 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
    5. 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.

    6. 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.

  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.

  4. 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!

  5. 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"
  6. 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...

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

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

  8. 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.

  9. Device invented to see through walls! by Lord+Lode · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's called a window.

  10. 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/
  11. Re:Fear mongering by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe he only showers every two months?

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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.