Researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory have devised a new mechanism that allows to spot activities on the other side of the solid wall obstruction, something which was more of a sci-fi phenomenon until now.
We can see our environment, spot objects and activities because of the light reflecting from them back to our eyes/ retinas. This is one of the scientific factors that make our ‘visual experiences’ possible. If the light is reflecting from a solid wall, we can only visually experience the ‘wall’ and not the environment behind that is being obstructed. Now, what we are talking about is called ‘visible light’; which doesn’t really help in seeing through obstructions.
John Peabody and Gregory Charvat at Lincoln Laboratory have tested an idea that uses radio waves instead of visible light to see through walls. The emitted radar signals pass through the concrete walls and deflect back to the radar receivers easily, with some signals losses in transit. The signal losses aren’t a problem because of the availability of affordable signal amplifying devices.