Tiny radar biometric sensor could identify people by their heartbeat

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed a millimeter-wave radar sensor that is capable of detecting biometrics including heartbeats.

The sensor is battery-powered and is described as being the size of a sesame seed. It can detect vibrations that are a hundred times as small as a human hair, and it is so sensitive that it can hear a small leaf thinning as it runs out of water.

The team used software on the sensor itself to cancel noise instead of working on a hardware answer to the noise problem, which would have increased the need for power. The millimeter-wave sensor is inexpensive to manufacture at scale, and it is considered a short-range sensor, but it is unclear just how short the range is 12.

Similar technology has been reported by Biometric Update since 2020, but it involved infrared lasers connected to biometric sensors that could identify people by the way their clothes vibrate over their heart. Development began in 2010 by Ideal Innovations and Washington University