DARPA Sensors Will Track Your Heartbeat

Doesn’t matter if you’re a ninja or a polar bear blinking in a blizzard — if you’ve got a heartbeat, this new sensor system will find you. It’s called “Biometrics-at-a-distance” and does everything but smell your fear.

Currently under development by the Department of Defense’s research arm, the sensors will listen for a suspect’s individual pulse using electrocardiography and will be able to track up to 10 suspects at a distance of over 10 meters. No physical contact with the subject is necessary, nor is line-of-site. It is also being designed to penetrate walls, floors, and doors — even concrete — to track individuals in dense urban settings. Hiding — behind walls, under floors, or in crowds — is no longer an effective means of escape.

Its first use will primarily be on the battlefield, not only letting soldiers know what’s on the other side of a door before they breach it, but also for front-line triage and health monitoring. [DoD via Wired - Image via: viviamo / Shutterstock]