Image Accreditation: MIT CSAIL

X-ray vision is an ability that would make life so much easier, but it has always been a dream and never a reality.

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have been working tirelessly over the last decade to make it happen.

Their latest success is enabling artificial intelligence (AI) to see through walls, with a project titled ‘RF-Pose’. The AI uses wireless devices to sense radio signals emitting from people’s bodies which can then provide AI with the information it needs to identify people’s postures and movements through walls.

The artificial intelligence then generates a human form in the shape of a dynamic stick figure that walks, stops, sits, and moves its limbs as the person performs those actions.

The AI identified someone based on their movements 83% of the time when it focused on a group of 100 different people.

“We’ve seen that monitoring patients’ walking speed and ability to do basic activities on their own gives health care providers a window into their lives that they didn’t have before, which could be meaningful for a whole range of diseases. A key advantage of our approach is that patients do not have to wear sensors or remember to charge their devices.” Says Dina Katabi, who co-wrote a new paper on the study.

The technology is already being linked to monitoring diseases like Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), and muscular dystrophy. This could allow doctors to monitor and understand these conditions further as well as the ability to adjust medications accordingly. It has also been linked to helping older adults or blind people live more independently while monitoring for injuries and falls.

Sources:

1. Gizmodo.
2. MIT.