The FBI is getting new technology to see through walls

Original article here

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) plans to buy radar technology that can detect people on the other side of walls, whether they are moving around, standing still or even lying down.

The idea of using radar – a system that uses radio waves reflecting off objects to determine their location – in this way has been around for at least 20 to 30 years, says Hugh Griffiths at University College London. But he described the field tests with this new system as “impressive” in demonstrating how “they’ve solved a lot of the engineering problems that you need to solve if you’ve got something that people are going to use for real”.

The FBI declined to comment on its intent to purchase this technology, called the Detect Presence of Life system, from the company Maxentric Technologies, which was detailed in a 3 April notice published in a US government database. The company has developed and tested the radar system with the help of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

First responders tested the radar prototype on both indoor and exterior walls at the company’s California facility on 18 October 2022, according to a DHS report. The agency later organised another test in Washington DC in September 2023 and scheduled additional testing with federal, state and law enforcement agencies in late 2024. The federal agency and the company did not respond to requests for comment.

The lunchbox-size radar system works by being leaned directly against a wall while attached to a standing tripod, with users standing about 1.5 metres away and controlling the system with a tablet or phone app. That app displays radar results as a blue-to-red colourmap with human icons designating the likely locations of people.

The radar system’s 8-gigahertz bandwidth can deliver high-resolution images, “which allows you to discriminate between individual people”, says Griffiths. The ability of the electromagnetic signals from such radar systems to penetrate walls depends on the material. “Thick brick walls are going to be less transparent than light wooden walls,” he says.

The system can also distinguish between human motions and repetitive mechanical ones, such as ceiling fans or air conditioning systems, says Tyler Ralston, formerly at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He described the technology as being best suited for monitoring a fixed area inside a building, and said it may require multiple radar systems to cover larger areas.

During testing, officials said the technology was intuitive and easy to use. But they also described difficulties and inconsistencies in the radar’s ability to determine the exact number and location of people in a room because of “missed detections and false positives”. An article published by DHS in late 2023 indicated further improvements to the technology based on the ongoing tests.