Qinetiq's Millimeter Wave sees through walls and your clothes

You've probably heard us talk about "personal security" firm Qinetiq before, but their latest mad scientist invention may yet prove to be their greatest. They're calling the technology Millimeter Wave, and scanners based on the device can "see" through walls and clothes, something that the pervs and homeland security officials will love alike. Apparently they are also working on a "hyperspectral sensor" which picks up stress pheromones in the air—the perfect weapon in an airport against the very rare and elusive harried business traveler variety of terrorist.

[tacotaco @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Will it see through the weed that, uh, the guy in front of me is carrying?

[Scott @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Hardly "news", The Reg reported about this last year November:

http://www.theregister.com/2004/11/08/heathrow_scanner_pilot/

[Newton Heath @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Funny it can't see through his shoes (even though judging by the angle of the blade - its a faked picture)

[Asher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

It is a faked pic. The position of the arms, feet and legs is slightly off. Not to mention the body is slightly rotated too. I have the same type of scanner too... it's an app. called Poser.

[Nis Sarup @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Im quite sure I heard about this a long time ago.

The change in posture might come from not being able to take a normal photo with the magical millimeter-wave scanner. So the subject might have moved between shots. In fact this might be seen as something that speaks for the trueness of the story.

[BJ @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

I don't know about Qinetiq, but millimeter-wave is real, and has been in development for years. I don't have any idea about the current status of the technology, but I've been told that a sufficiently advanced system would be capable of counting the change in your pocket.

[mph @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

I don't see any reason to think it's fake. Of course Nis is right, the images were taken at different times, and the subject moved slightly. Millimeter waves behave more like radio waves than visible light, and the equipment for capturing the two images will be completely different.

I also don't see anything odd about it not penetrating the shoes. Shoe leather is much more dense than the shirt and pants he's wearing (and note that even the newspaper is thick enough to have some effect, if there's a clean background to see it against).

[JK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

I act like a harried business traveler to smuggle drugs onto domestic flights.

[Asher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

RE #6
I cannot see how this is reliable if they cannot give us an image that matches the photo. A camera and the mm scanner cannot take a pic at the same time? The entire mass of that scanned body looks different. And if leather is all it takes... I doubt that a smuggler or bomber would EVER figure out to wear a leather jacket and leather pants. Hells Angels would obviously be targets for profiling.

[dionysus @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

#9, Maybe you are reading too much into those 2 photos and not enough into the science behind the technology?

[Foof @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Agree with #10. The positioning is a little off, but it's more significant that the technology they've made is at a point where something like this is possible and within reach of commercial application, rather than the fact that the company did not spend money to make some kind of contraption that would let them integrate a camera into the device just so they can take exactly simultaneous shots for a 160x200 pixel press release photo.

How does the fact that someone stood a foot or two away from the mmw device and took a comparison picture before/afterwards influence the effectiveness or the reality of the technology?

[Asher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Not taking actual simultaneous photos makes me not believe the technology... or at least not their test. How hard would two tripods be? Seriously, they did not need to make some whizbang contraption to shoot two photos at the same time. Just a camera and the MM scanner and perhaps two ppl to say read, set, go and take the pics. If they cannot produce two similar pics I would have a tendency to think it's faked=not real. Why would anyone buy into a press release that is so obviously skewed?

[Foof @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

#12: My thought is because that logically and technically, the timing of the shots really doesn't say anything about whether the technology works or not. MMW isn't something that is time-dependent - it's not like a new device that can, say, capture a 3D image of a speeding bullet, of which you might want an exact-instant reference picture). This picture could be taken before, during, seconds afterwards, or days afterwards, and it really doesn't impugn the veracity of the claims past what you were willing to believe in the first place.

Remember, this is not a technology that claims to take a picture and analyze the pixels to show you what is hidden underneath. The photo is only there to show you that the dude they're scanning is indeed wearing clothes and holding a newspaper.

It's kind of like saying a football team didn't actually win the game because one news reporter said the post-game party started at 7pm and another said it started at 7:30pm.

In other words, if you think this technology is bogus, that's fine, but your conclusion really shouldn't be based on the fact that the pictures are taken at the same time. Just IMHO.

[Felipe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

look at his shadow...its not jus seconds off...for his shadow to be that off, it means it is hours apart. FAKE.

[l.st @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

bloody hell, guys. just because *this* one could be a fake doesn't mean that the science behind it isn't real; scroll back to the first comments for the link. i'm a lot more worried about the privacy implications than which particular company is manufacturing and selling these

[Sceptic @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

What a fabulously throbbing erection he's hiding behind that newspaper !

No wonder they had to pixelate his face.

[mathew s @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

I love how you so called geeks call the whole story fake because the two pictures don't use the same camera.

[Gregory Pierce @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Ouch, my sperm!

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

what the crap? who cares about the pics being off? if someone was to fake it dont you think they would try and make them the same so that you idiots wouldent have to worry about the "shadow"? I think them being off lends it more reliability.
PS. if they had two tripods the angel would be slightly different.

[Adam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

crap I meant angle

[hugh @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Millimetre wave is not new. There are various reviews for the technology since 1998.

It is true that the technology can see through the clothes, just like the previously well known infrared camera.

However, due to privacy issues, the technology was not used for scanning people. I wonder which sector would use that for personnel scanning.

[Stewart @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Qinetiq is actually the civilian end of the UK's defense research lab...

[Rich @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

#18 The sensors are passive

A normal camera would not be integrated with the equipment due to privacy concerns.

[Toph vision 5 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Guessing by the image, his junk isn't very dense

[Bosnia And Herceg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Ey dont you think, this shit is a troubel for some people that dont want to showe theres body naked. Imagen that you are going with your sister or mother grandmother on a trip, then a stupid police or security can see her naked. This to much, stop discuss about the man on the pic, instead you should discuss about the problems results. /Bozzniaa

[Arif @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

Interesting discussion. Somehow no one has mentioned whether the Millimeter Wave is an open environment or controlled environment technology. If it is a controlled environment technology (which I think it is) then the pics were taken at different times and are there just to demonstrate. If so, then you all are bloody geeks for not observing the obvious.

The comment by Bozznia is more relevant for people from conservative societies. Lesser travel, lesser transfer of intellect, the West dries-up, technology and progress moves to the East. Think about it!

[SweFlo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:52AM]

UK is about to start using this technology in public spaces, and Sweden wants to use the technology in a test phase on some of its air ports. The technoogy is being "tweaked" so the body underneath won't show as well - hence protect people's integrity.