In an exciting and unprecedented development in the field of digital monitoring, researchers at the University of La Sabinza in Rome offered a system called “Whofi”, which can identify and track people depending on the interference that their bodies make in the “Wi -Fi” signs, without the need for cameras or smart devices on the person himself.
The new technology depends on a principle known as “Channel State Information (CSI)”, which are accurate changes in signal energy and their wave caused by moving objects in the environment. Using a deep trained nervous network, the system turns these changes into a digital imprint that can be distinguished and distinguished with an accuracy of 95.5 percent.
This achievement was achieved using regular Wi -Fi devices such as “TP‑link N750”, without the need for specialized equipment. According to the researchers, “Hofay” works efficiently even in complete darkness or through the walls, which opens the door to secret monitoring that does not require a direct vision. It thus exceeds traditional recognition techniques such as cameras.
Although the developers stress that “Hofay” does not collect personal data and does not reveal the identity of individuals, but only depends on physical patterns, his ability to identify people without their knowledge raised great concerns about privacy. The effects may be dangerous, so the ability to follow the movement of a person inside a store, a house or an airport without his knowledge can reveal his daily customs, needs, or frequency places. Although the practical use of this technology is still in the academic stage, its potential prevalence raises great moral and legal challenges.
The researchers’ team has previously presented a previous technology called “Eyefi”, but it has achieved accuracy not exceeding 75 percent and more weak in performance. As for “Hofay”, it came with improved accuracy and by using modern models operating in the transformer style, and it has proven its worth in analyzing accurate changes over time and places. This shift in performance made the system cross the limits of narrow space to include wider areas that reach the entire “Wi -Fi” network, which enhances its ability to collectively track.
This technology is an exciting opportunity for commercial uses and smart monitoring. It may be used in stores to track repeated customers and make “smart” promotional offers, or in events to determine attendance and organize entry without the need for visual gates or identifiers. But the other side is very worrying; The security authorities can use it to track the suspects or even to determine protest activities without the use of cameras, which raises questions about the limits of legal monitoring and respecting individual freedoms.
So far, Hofay remains a research project without any plans for a commercial or government application. However, experts believe that the spread of “Wi -Fi sensor” is supported by modern industrial standards such as “IEEE 802.11bF”, which makes the way towards a wide open application. Similar techniques have already appeared in areas such as the detection of the fall in homes, distance monitoring in public places, or even identifying movements and gestures within the rooms without the need for cameras.
Without cameras or phones, and using the “Fi” network itself, the “Hofay” system today can determine and distinguish people and follow them with craftsmanship close to traditional cameras, even in the dark or beyond the walls. The technique provides what is described as “an invisible stereotype”, with high -end capacity.
