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ToAlphaCentauriGuy t1_j78k3tm wrote

Defense Websites: new drone ability can find targets by sound.

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trumpcovfefe t1_j7ai8db wrote

That has existed for a looooooong time.

MIT also figured out how to hack into any speaker or microphone to map a room without the people inside knowing.

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nicuramar t1_j7ak2v3 wrote

> MIT also figured out how to hack into any speaker or microphone to map a room without the people inside knowing.

I bet that if one finds the source for this, there are a number of caveats and limitations that didn’t make it into your summary :)

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trumpcovfefe t1_j7b3sdh wrote

https://www.technologyreview.com/2014/07/25/171967/an-indoor-positioning-system-based-on-echolocation/amp/

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pileofcrustycumsocs t1_j7c126d wrote

This article says literally nothing about hacking into the speakers. The whole thing is just that they added a program that ignores back ground noise on to an existing method of mapping a room via echolocation, it doesn’t say anything about remotely activating random speakers to do this

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trumpcovfefe t1_j7c82ko wrote

Dude its nearly been a decade since I read the original article. The original article talks about the tech and utilizing it to map rooms in hostage situation. Similar to how heat signatures are currently used.

Obviously the speakers/microphones need to be connected to a network.

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nitrohigito t1_j7ax9h5 wrote

>to hack into any speaker or microphone

aren't most speakers and microphones analog?

if they are digital, won't they all be running wildly different software stacks, with all kinds of versions, forks, and configurations?

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trumpcovfefe t1_j7b3i9h wrote

Any speaker connected to a network ** figured that'd be an obvious requirement

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nitrohigito t1_j7b49mr wrote

see my second point then

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trumpcovfefe t1_j7b4sbr wrote

the friendly write up

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nitrohigito t1_j7b5drx wrote

That friendly write-up features zero mentions of any kind of hacking.

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trumpcovfefe t1_j7b5y97 wrote

Yeah thats on the friendly version. The article write up including gov use goes over that.

I'll look for it later, its been years. The original idea was for the gov to use this to hack into systems in buildings to rescue hostages.

Similar to using heat pattern imaging systems to see where people are in a room before breaching, but the echo location allows for it to be done in larger spaces and through denser walls.

Im going back to sleep for now. Cheers

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nitrohigito t1_j7bb18w wrote

I'm sure state actors can hack a breadth of devices to achieve such a goal, was just meaning to point out that while cyberattacks tend to be highly scalable, there's enough variation across devices like this that you still need to be moderately lucky and put in some serious work hours to be able to pull this off. It's definitely not a "they just go an' haxx all devices in der" type deal, and it's needlessly alarmist to claim so.

There's also a number of other imaging techniques they can reach for. You mentioned infrared, but they can even use something like WiFi to image behind a wall. All much more circumstance-agnostic and cheap than having to build and maintain an assortment of exploit chains merely for use on a short-notice for echolocation.

If any group has such capabilities developed, they almost certainly use it much more practically (such as for surveillance). And those exploit chains won't be developed by "MIT scientists" who can certainly find a better way to spend their valuable time.

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JMoherPerc t1_j7c02do wrote

I know I’m being overly pedantic, but You can’t hack a speaker or a microphone.

You can hack a computer, and oftentimes mics are hooked up to computers.

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p-skow t1_j79iksv wrote

So these will be the things that hunt us down, telling the bigger extermination drones where to find us.

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Sagybagy t1_j7hzwp4 wrote

I wouldn’t worry too much. I have a small fpv drone that size. As long as you are more than a minute and a half of flight time away you are good.

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p-skow t1_j7i3u5n wrote

The Supreme AI will be able to churn these out at a record pace though, with 500 mini searcher drones for every human.

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Sagybagy t1_j7ibhq8 wrote

They can still only fly for a minute or two and a slight breeze kills them. 500 drones screaming into a warm breeze for 60 seconds and moving all of 50 ft then falling to the ground isn’t exactly a concern.

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Stoney-McBoney t1_j792y1c wrote

Now I’m thinking about those robot spiders in minority report.

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PredictableEmphasis t1_j7a5h6s wrote

This is the flimsiest spin I’ve ever seen on a product clearly developed explicitly for the surveillance state. “Lost people” is a made up problem lmao. Less than 0.1% of the populace gets truly lost.

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KitteNlx t1_j78waj7 wrote

Make them fly around yelling 'Marco!'

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DarkGengar94 t1_j7a5iec wrote

It could be used to hunt people

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ceetoph t1_j7c189c wrote

> could

*will

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DarkGengar94 t1_j7c2gni wrote

Another step closer to terminators. Personally I think we all will die before we get to terminator level

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ceetoph t1_j7c4jzv wrote

I was picturing the small robot "dogs" from Black Mirror...

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DarkGengar94 t1_j7c5i11 wrote

2030 News

"In other news, another president was killed by a robot today, being the fifth one this year. When we come back, Is your puppy trying to kill you? You maybe shocked by the answer."

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Remy-today t1_j78vwyr wrote

Batman already had this tech in smartphones back in 2008. Funny how movie reality becomes our reality often.

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nicuramar t1_j7aknzo wrote

The system in that movie is clearly far more advanced than a drone with ultrasound.

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caidicus t1_j79ibdn wrote

And people hiding from killer drones.

Rejoice!

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serenwipiti t1_j79k78f wrote

…but what if I don’t want to be found?

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NMS-Town t1_j790cc4 wrote

How about starting out simple, you know keys, wallet, cell phone? I was thinking of getting a dog, but just think teaching this thing to fetch. haha

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bkubicek t1_j7a7nrw wrote

Drone: "e e cho" Missing person: "e k cho"

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LoganH1219 t1_j78ybxr wrote

Horizon X The Last of Us Crossover

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AideAdvanced6018 t1_j7adflj wrote

Which in turn release the nano drones which act as mosquitoes for whatever new virus they want to sell drugs for next. They could kill you, but why waste the potential income? /s

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Automatic_Llama t1_j7aela0 wrote

I've been hearing about exciting new ways robots might be used to find people my entire life.

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Zhaguar t1_j7ahfdz wrote

Oh dear that's how skynet finds us

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The_Synthax t1_j7ajwtn wrote

How is this different from the widely used ultrasonic sensors that hobbyist robots and like all modern vehicles use?

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metametamind t1_j7avb1l wrote

Or, ya know, go on a murder-bit killing spree.

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BPMMPB t1_j7aybve wrote

It’s always an innocuous use case, then law enforcement buys them.

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GeeBee72 t1_j7az52v wrote

Yes, but could it give large robots the ability to find small people?

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VincentNacon t1_j7b0k32 wrote

Sweet! Send a bunch of these to Ukraine, they need help finding those lost dimwit Russians in the woods that doesn't know which way is north. 🤣

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[deleted] t1_j7b1glv wrote

Or…small drones could be used to track down people.

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DaphniaDuck t1_j7b55ui wrote

So if I am lost cold and frightened in the woods a friendly drone would find me and reunite me with my dear wife and lovely children? How wonderful! I can't imagine any downside to this wonderful new technology.

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pcrombs t1_j7bca6a wrote

Or people who are hiding…

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shawnwingsit t1_j7bo9zb wrote

Them bots is smart, they use radar!

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spicesickness t1_j7c44hc wrote

Always present new technology in positive light vs., you know, echolocation could allow drones to track and hunt down humans.

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Yzerman_19 t1_j7d3tu2 wrote

What could possibly go wrong with this?

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procrastibader t1_j7gfrkc wrote

Isn’t this one of the plot devices in Minority Report?

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