The pentagon has developed a lasaer pointer capable of identifying people from 200 metres away based solely on their heartbeat, foreign media reported.
The system, called Jetson, USES infrared sensors to detect tiny movements on the skin caused by a person’s unique heart characteristics. Stuart lemali of the pentagon’s office of counter-terrorism technical support says the technology could be used against terrorists with 95 percent accuracy and could one day detect people at greater distances.
However, there are some problems with the technology. Currently jetson takes about 30 seconds to identify, meaning it only works when the object is still.
And it can’t detect a heartbeat through thick clothing, such as a coat. Although it is highly accurate, Dr Rupert Alton, a senior lecturer in physics at imperial college London, points out that “one in 20 identifications is wrong”.
Professor Chris chatwin, dean of the school of engineering and informatics at the university of Sussex, said the technology would help confirm whether a person was alive or dead on the battlefield.
In addition to military applications, doctors could use it to remotely scan for heart arrhythmias and monitor patients, the report said.