In what is stuff of FPS video games may finally be a reality. The MIT Technology Review reports that the Pentagon has developed a laser that can identify people by their heartbeart at a distance. This reminds us of the hearbeat sensors used in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Jetson as the technology is known , uses laser vibrometry to identify surface movement on the skin caused by a heartbeat. It can detect heartbeats at a distance of 200 meters. This technology was developed upon request by the U.S. Special Forces , it can just go over 200 meters and uses a technique that known as laser vibrometry.

Laser vibrometry can detect the surface movement caused by the heartbeat. And detection can still be done even if the target is in his/her clothes. With the advances in biometrics, the Jetson technology takes it further as it hard to fake some biometrical information. So far, Jetson is in its early stages as it cannot still penetrate through winter clothing as well as it requires the target to stay still whilst being scanned by the laser device.

To build the Jetson, they used COTS (Commercial Off The Shell) which makes it even more affordable to build and for now it will need a gimbal to maket the device a more stable platform to use. It will also require a database of cardiac signatures which makes it problematic. But one thing for sure, it can help in the identification of a suspect such as a terrorist the need to facial and fingerprint recognition.

According to the MIT Technology Review article, cardiac signatures are already used for identification such as a device that uses a wrist-worn pulse sensor as an alternative to fingerprint identification.

So far this hearbeart sensing technologies are nowhere near to capabilities of the sensors that are seen the video games though these games can influence the thinking of designers and develop the technology. A heartbeat sensor like in Rainbow six can give one a big advantage over the enemy.