alt.hn

5/25/2026 at 11:32:56 AM

Seeing Around Corners Using Smartphone-Grade Lidar

 https://spectrum.ieee.org/smartphone-grade-lidar

by marc__1

5/28/2026 at 5:26:27 PM

Ordinary WiFi can "see" through walls/corners with biometric fingerprinting of humans, https://gizmodo.com/researchers-issue-warning-about-tech-tha...

  Researchers collected WiFi signal recordings from nearly 200 participants as they walked through a WiFi field using different walking styles. The data was recorded from four different perspectives using both the BFI method and an older WiFi sensing approach relying on channel state information, or CSI. 

  “This technology turns every router into a potential means for surveillance,” said co-author Julian Todt in the press release. “If you regularly pass by a café that operates a WiFi network, you could be identified there without noticing it and be recognized later – for example by public authorities or companies.”

  The researchers are urging the IEEE, the organization that sets industry standards, to include stronger privacy safeguards in the upcoming 802.11bf standard, which is meant to standardize WiFi sensing applications.

by transpute

5/28/2026 at 2:36:58 PM

This specific finding is minor, but its implications are not IMHO. From the article it appears the researchers consider this a discovery in effect.

If consumer hardware is already capable (in many settings) of reproducing what were formerly research-level and industry-grade techniques, it may be a transformation in more areas of technology than would be obvious. I am very curious to see if there will be further findings in this area.

by mberlove

5/28/2026 at 3:50:58 PM

This is a very natural progression of technologies that escape industry/defense to get into the consumer's hand.

by momoschili

5/28/2026 at 3:03:17 PM

The military/LEO is probably already envisioning a Daredevil like helmet with augmented-reality lenses that overlay non-line-of-sight threats in real time.

by libria

5/28/2026 at 4:07:54 PM

Didn't we already have a video of that? I don't remember the data sources used to generate the overlay, however. Was it multiple solders' helmets sharing their data, and/or perhaps even a drone from above?

by deburo

5/28/2026 at 8:07:01 PM

anduril eagle eye probably

by logtempo

5/28/2026 at 2:41:23 PM

Smartphone grade lidar == FaceID ?

by aftbit

5/28/2026 at 3:52:27 PM

depends on what phone you have but LIDAR sensors are used for more than just faceID

by momoschili

5/28/2026 at 10:59:32 PM

Like what? Portrait mode? I have a Pixel 8 which I believe does something else to fake depth maps.

by aftbit

5/29/2026 at 5:19:33 AM

Pixel 8 uses a version of stereo imaging but at the pixel level instead of at the full sensor level. It's not fake at the base level, the physics of it allow for depth information to be retrieved this way (compared to most monocular deep depth for example, which does not)

IDK about other manufacturers, but the iPhone Pros have a pretty good measurement app that uses LIDAR, there's some augmented reality apps that use it, and it's also used for autofocus in dark environments. There's plenty of ways to use depth information.

by momoschili

5/28/2026 at 12:34:21 PM

So this only works if you have walls opposite of this corner?

by ofrzeta

5/28/2026 at 12:50:52 PM

It seems to require a lidar reflective object. Likely more generally, the effectiveness lowers the less objects there are to bounce and return signal.

It could probably work with less accuracy/resolution against visible vehicles in the opposite lane, a hedgerow, postal box, pedestrian carrying a visible laptop and possibly synthesize all of these to improve its guess.

by libria

5/28/2026 at 1:45:13 PM

The video thumbnail implies bouncing off the ground, not a wall. Not sure how the geometry works out for that

by wongarsu

5/28/2026 at 11:09:21 AM

Why not just place a mirror at 45 degrees in the corner? That way you don't need the lidar but you can just look around the corner? It would also work better with the lidar.

by cuechan

5/28/2026 at 11:45:37 AM

I would be interested in seeing your visual mockups of how such a solution works on one of the article’s examples, like a car.

by devmor

5/28/2026 at 12:48:44 PM

Like this: https://c8.alamy.com/compde/t0580m/der-verkehr-kurve-spiegel...

Or this: https://cdn-01-artemis.media-brady.com/Assets/ImageRoot/DMEU...

Reasonably common in difficult corners in Germany and Austria. Probably elsewhere too.

The downside is that it's road infrastructure that has to be installed. The upside is that it works for everyone, including people in 20 year old cars or on bicycles.

by wongarsu

5/28/2026 at 5:13:13 PM

You know what, that’s fair. That’s a good solution.

If it weren’t for the struggles of getting municipal infrastructure installed, I’d prefer it.

by devmor

5/28/2026 at 6:10:22 PM

These are very common in Spain too.

by pfortuny

5/28/2026 at 12:03:51 PM

Every car just needs n number of mirrors on articulating joints and to sense any oncoming cars that need to see around a corner and then receive a command to reposition said mirror.

by dietrichsam

5/28/2026 at 4:59:05 PM

Mirrors allow two-way looking.

by noman-land

5/29/2026 at 1:00:08 AM

That's easily worked around (e.g. fisheye and appropriate correction). The real problem is that the scenarios discussed don't allow for setup, otherwise they could just use preplaced cameras...

by yyyk