back to article How's this for X-ray specs? Wi-Fi can read through walls... if the letters are solid objects

Researchers in California have found that Wi-Fi signals can be used to image objects on the far side of a wall, and claim to have demonstrated that such a system can even pick out complex shapes such as letters of the alphabet. The researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara used off-the-shelf Wi-Fi transmitters …

  1. Mike 137 Silver badge

    Can Wi-Fi read through walls?

    Yes, but only if the source and the detector are on opposite sides of the object being 'read' (just like a medical X-ray really).

    So yes it's possible under limited circumstances, but the 'letters' and the 'reading' are pure red herrings (unless you have alphabet wallpaper with very special high frequency characteristics).

    I'm getting increasingly worried by the extent to which science is increasingly getting reported by its researchers using journalistic click bait. Science used be about objectivity - now it often just seems to be about getting noticed -- another example of "look at me, mum!" in a world of shouting children. It's a pity, bacause the sctual science often merits more adult attention.

    1. ITMA Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Can Wi-Fi read through walls?

      You mean like this bit of really crap reporting by the BBC

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-64668021

      1. It is not even in the shape of a "robot". It is a direct copy of a Lego "human" figure.

      2. It is does not "melt itself". That is done by the application of an external energy field.

      3. It can't move itself when molten. That is done by the application of external magnetic forces which drag it along.

      Pure click bait.

  2. Graham Cobb

    Drat

    There goes my idea of posting my password on my bedroom wall using Etsy letters in case I forget it.

    Next you'll be telling me I should change it from "IFeelSparkly".

    1. DS999 Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Drat

      Don't use "Live Laugh Love" that wall password is already used by a million middle aged women in the US!

  3. Howard Sway Silver badge

    X-ray specs? Wi-Fi can read through walls

    Oh great. So once Eve's finished nicking their passwords, she can spend the rest of the evening watching Bob and Alice having sex.

    I guess the safest thing to do from now on is to turn your wifi off whenever a website prompts for a password, and turn it back on once you've been logged in successfully. And put your bed in a faraday cage.

  4. DvorakUser
    Holmes

    Now we can finally find...

    Where the studs in the wall are without any guesswork. This will put an end up unnecessary holes in the walls from trying to find -and missing - the best place to put the nail to hang the family portrait.

    1. ITMA Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Now we can finally find...

      One has been able to buy gadgets to do that for a long time.

      Nothing new in that.

      https://www.bestproductsreviews.co.uk/stud-finder?targetid=kwd-299026068905&matchtype=b&device=c&campaignid=12134395330&creative=493317846389&adgroupid=120735521750&feeditemid=&loc_physical_ms=1006621&loc_interest_ms=&network=g&devicemodel=&placement=&keyword=$%2Bbest%20%2Bstud%20%2Bfinder&target=&aceid=&adposition=&trackid=uk_all_top_11_1&mId=407-132-4411&trackOld=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInI-JnZiogQMVWfDtCh1L3wobEAAYASAAEgJE3vD_BwE

    2. stiine Silver badge

      Re: Now we can finally find...

      Funny, very funny. I have a wall in the garage with a row of holes every 1/2" across a span of three feet...because there had to be a stud in that wall, didn't there? Its like a three year old with a hammer sat on the toolbox and just started punching holes in the drywall.... Eventually, I'll patch the holes, but currently, they are there to remind me that you should NEVER buy the showcase in any new subdivision, because the construction quality ISN'T.

  5. Eecahmap

    They've reinvented RADAR

    Nothing to see here.

  6. Nifty

    Oh so it was the neighbours who borrowed my drill.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes, yes they will you fools.

    They'll start here and move on:

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/15/contest-decipher-herculaneum-scrolls-3d-x-ray-software

    This is the coolest use of technology, since the beer cooler, that I've ever seen. Detecting the chemical differences of the charred inks in a wad of charred papyrus. AND READING THE RESULTS!!!!!

    This is why I occasionally send a random person a blank letter, with just an uninked thumbprint in the middle of the page, just to fuck with the bastards who spy on our mail.

  8. Stuart Halliday

    Next it will be someone suggesting we use this concept to see if there are hidden rooms inside Tutankhamen's Tomb. Even a hint would be valuable information.

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