A team of scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has created an X-ray vision augmented reality (AR) headset capable of locating concealed objects.

To develop what they call the X-AR headset, the MIT team outfitted an existing AR headset with an antenna that communicates with RFID tags. When concealed objects were labeled with corresponding RFID tags, users could reportedly localize hidden objects — around corners and in boxes, for example — to within under 10 cm.

Source: MIT

The antenna localized the RFID tagged objects using an approach called synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which is a type of radar used to create two-dimensional images or three-dimensional reconstructions of objects.

The researchers explained that SAR enabled X-AR to cull visual data from the headset to construct a map of the environment and determine its location within that environment.

According to the MIT team, headset users can select from a menu of RFID tagged objects. As soon as the object is identified, it is surrounded by a transparent sphere, alerting the user of its location within the room.

The MIT team is eyeing the headset for possible future use in warehouse settings or in the smart home.

The article detailing the X-AR, Augmenting Augmented Reality with Non-Line-of-Sight Perception, was published by MIT.

For more information on the X-AR, watch the accompanying video that appears courtesy of MIT.