Phones with X-ray Vision Can Be Reality

It may sound like a power of Superman, but seeing through walls is a technology of movies and stories and comics that are not that far from reality. Scientists at the University of Dallas are working on a chip that would make smartphones able to see what is happening on the other side of walls, trees and plastic or paper.

The sensor combines two innovations. The first is a bet on the electromagnetic spectrum is not used in appliances and a new microchip technology, responsible for forming an image without the need for additional lenses. The area called the terahertz responsible for crossing the solid would be full of potential not only in electronics but in medical applications.

The second is using sensor technology CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor), often used in cameras, to manufacture microchips. The combination of these technologies makes it possible to see through material, but scientists have come up to the issue of privacy - the devices could only make use of this ability to a maximum distance of four inches.

Applications in science have nothing to do with spying on what the neighbors are doing: it is expected that the cell can detect internal flaws in structures, internal injuries in patients and the contents of suspicious packages, for example. According to ScienceDaily, however, technology should still take several years to bring new concrete results and reach the consumer.

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