These drones with Wi-Fi have X-ray vision

Drones can now see through walls — sort of. 

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, just figured out how to use Wi-Fi signals and drones to create 3D maps of the inside of buildings.  The video above demonstrates their process, which is also detailed in a paper published online.

For the experiment the team used two drones. One sent Wi-Fi signals from one side of the structure, while the other picked up what was left of the signal (the received signal strength or RSSI) on the other side of the walls. The result is a pretty decent image of what's inside the building.

Instead of Superman and X-ray vision, we have drones and Wi-Fi. But like Superman, the drones might be able to take some 3D measurements of the inside of collapsed buildings and so on before emergency rescue arrives. Read more...