X-ray vision: glasses can find hidden objects

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced Monday, 27th that it has developed a new product that is every stockist’s dream: a headset that combines elements of augmented reality and gives the user “X-ray vision.” Anyone using the device can find a particular item in a warehouse, even inside a box or under a pile of objects.

“Magic” is done using radio frequency (RF) signals that pass through common materials like cardboard boxes, plastic wrap, and even wood splitters. Items out of sight reflect signals sent by an RF antenna after being tagged with RFID tags with a microchip that emits radio waves.

As the user walks towards the item, it appears as a transparent sphere on the headset screen. As soon as the user receives the object, equipment, baptized as X-ARchecks if the person actually got the right object. In the first test of the product, the device was able to find “hidden” items with an accuracy of up to 9.8 centimeters and recorded 96% of the hits.

How was the AR headset with X-ray vision created?

The biggest challenge in placing the X-ray vision on an AR headset was knowing where to fit the antenna without “closing any of the cameras or blocking their operation”. This is very important as we have to use all the features of the audience,” explains Aline Eid, one of the authors of the project, who was doing her postdoctoral studies at the MIT Media Lab at the time.

The team used a simple, lightweight loop antenna to achieve an effective receiver and narrowed its shape to increase bandwidth. The next step was to optimize the antenna to send and receive signals when connected to the headphone display, as this equipment normally works outdoors.

Finally, to see RFID elements as the user walks, the authors used a technique called synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which allows aircraft to see objects on the ground. After successfully running X-AR, the researchers plan to test new forms of detection such as WiFi, mmWave and terhertz wave. The goal is to increase the range of the headset to over three meters.