Brits develop X-Ray Specs camera

newsguy 0 281 Views

Remember those X-Ray Specs you could order as a kid from the newspaper classifieds that promised the ability to see through clothes to the undergarments below? I do, and I can report that they most certainly did not work - much to my disappointment as a 10 year old kid.

Well it appears that now a British developer has come up with a camera that does work, and that can see under clothes from a distance of 25 meters away.

The T5000 ThruVision camera is, of course, destined for anti-terror and security usage rather than to satisfy the juvenile desires of young boys, but is interesting none the less.

It works by using passive image technology to detect natural electromagnetic rays, also known as T-rays, that are emitted by objects.

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As noted, the gadget in the news was real but the "X‑ray" label is misleading. ThruVision's early systems used passive terahertz (THz) imaging to highlight concealed items by sensing how materials emit or reflect T‑rays; they do not emit ionizing X‑rays and they are designed to show object contrast, not anatomical detail. The tech came out of UK space/astronomy research and was adapted for security screening and perimeter monitoring. ThruVision Laser Focus World article. (thruvision.com)

A bit of physics helps clear myths. Terahertz sits between microwaves and infrared; THz photons are low‑energy and non‑ionizing, and water strongly absorbs them. That means THz imagers are good at revealing surface‑level concealed objects and material contrast (metal, plastics, ceramics, liquids) but they do not penetrate deep into the body. Real‑world performance depends on clothing type, moisture, range, motion and background clutter; some systems combine imaging with spectral analysis to improve material classification, but resolution and false positives are practical limits. IEEE Spectrum explainer. (spectrum.ieee.org)

's recollection about flashes is a different effect. Older camcorders or IR‑sensitive sensors, under very specific conditions and thin fabrics, could show silhouettes (the Sony "NightShot" story is a well documented example), but that visible/near‑IR behavior is not the same as terahertz imaging. Vendors stress that passive THz systems produce silhouettes rather than nude images and that the radiation is non‑ionizing, but privacy, legal and deployment questions led regulators and researchers to scrutinize body‑scanner use. For background on the camcorder myth and ThruVision's original privacy/safety claims see Snopes and the company’s press notes. Snopes on NightShot EurekAlert summary. (snopes.com)

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UrbanKhoja 89 Practically a Posting Shark

If my memory serves me correctly; there was a story recently where garments worn by celebritys - when hit with high volumes of bright & short bursts light, i.e camera flashes. Can appear to be translucent instead of opaque. The level of translucency depends entirely on the garment. Think it was on Discovery channel few years ago as well.

Dazza :cool:

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