KGMB 9 covers Oceanit's Sense Through The Wall Technology. Think Star Trek Tricorder - the ability to scan for life forms behind walls. Rapid Technology, LLC is also featured in the story. They are helping to prototype the casing for its technology. Click here to watch the video. Broadband l Dialup

Click here to watch an animation of the technology.

Posted: February 11, 2007 04:00 PM

Local Company Develops Army Sensors
Julia Norton-Dennis -

It's technology with the potential to save the lives of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan: a handheld sensor that can detect an enemy around the corner. A Hawaii company has won a lucrative military contract to make it happen.

U.S. soldiers move through a home in Najaf, checking for weapons. Someone could be hiding behind a walls, just waiting to attack. But what if a soldier could tell before going into a home or building whether there's someone lurking?

"It gives them a chance to determine before they go in who's there, what their intentions  may be and sort of plan out in advance what they're going to do," explained Chris Sullivan of Oceanit.

Local company Oceanit has a two-year, $1 million contract to develop technology to keep soldiers safe as they sweep through a town or go house to house. It will be a hand-held unit that looks something like the tricorders "Star Trek Next Generation" troops used.

"You go out there and you hit your buttons, and you kind of wait, take a reading of the  building and then based on that, you do something," Sullivan said.

The technology uses radio waves, "so it bounces off them and from that we can determine heart rate, respiration and where they are," he added.

The company used similar technology in an earlier project to develop a sort of "Star Trek" bed, where a patient's vital signs are taken, without even touching the patient.

Firefighters could also use the technology in a rescue to determine if there's anyone alive in a burning building.

Oceanit had to come up with a prototype to actually show the Army. That's where the wizards at Rapid Technology come in. Using their 3-D printing technique, a prototype can be produced in a day.

The final frontier can wait. Today, we're exploring solutions to real-life problems here on earth.

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