Posted on 08/16/2018 5:00:05 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Rutgers-led study demonstrates low-cost technology for security screening at public venues like stadiums, theme parks and schools
Ordinary WiFi can easily detect weapons, bombs and explosive chemicals in bags at museums, stadiums, theme parks, schools and other public venues, according to a Rutgers University–New Brunswick-led study.
The researchers’ suspicious object detection system is easy to set up, reduces security screening costs and avoids invading privacy such as when screeners open and inspect bags, backpacks and luggage. Traditional screening typically requires high staffing levels and costly specialized equipment.
“This could have a great impact in protecting the public from dangerous objects,” said Yingying (Jennifer) Chen, study co-author and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in Rutgers–New Brunswick’s School of Engineering. “There’s a growing need for that now.”
The peer-reviewed study received a best paper award at the 2018 IEEE Conference on Communications and Network Security on cybersecurity. The study – led by researchers at the Wireless Information Network Laboratory (WINLAB) in the School of Engineering – included engineers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Binghamton University.
WiFi, or wireless, signals in most public places can penetrate bags to get the dimensions of dangerous metal objects and identify them, including weapons, aluminum cans, laptops and batteries for bombs. WiFi can also be used to estimate the volume of liquids such as water, acid, alcohol and other chemicals for explosives, according to the researchers.
This low-cost system requires a WiFi device with two to three antennas and can be integrated into existing WiFi networks. The system analyzes what happens when wireless signals penetrate and bounce off objects and materials.
Experiments with 15 types of objects and six types of bags demonstrated detection accuracy rates of 99 percent for dangerous objects, 98 percent for metal and 95 percent for liquid. For typical backpacks, the accuracy rate exceeds 95 percent and drops to about 90 percent when objects inside bags are wrapped, Chen said.
"In large public areas, it’s hard to set up expensive screening infrastructure like what’s in airports,” Chen said. “Manpower is always needed to check bags and we wanted to develop a complementary method to try to reduce manpower.”
Next steps include trying to boost accuracy in identifying objects by imaging their shapes and estimating liquid volumes, she said.
Amazing if it works as claimed.
This will probably work very well in private venues.
Impossible to get to work in government venues as the cost is far too low.
LOL!
How about fraudulent voters?
Wait'll you see the General Dynamics and Lockheed models.
Of course, how else can those voters be paid? It's not like any of the right people want to get close enough to "those people" to hand them something and not like "those people" to want to be paid by mail or direct deposit which both leave a trail to them.
Common WiFi can also currently COUNT the number of people in a room, pretty reliably, if you give it a couple minutes for a reading.
There are varying degrees of WiFi provision. Some claims of WiFi service are just plain fraudulent.
So what happens when a “sh-t” WiFi system is thought to be up to par, and it’s anything but?
Do people get shot on site for false positives? Do terrorists get a clean bill of heath, then walk in to set off a device that kills hundreds?
Technology can be a real blessing, but in my experience it can also be vastly oversold.
The technology is already being used.
Where? Specifically, where? GiveStill waiting... Interested in where you got your information.sus a link to a site that describes existing equipment that has exactly the capabilities of the equipment in this article. Thanks.
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