A businessman at a trade show stealthily raises his camera-equipped cell phone to snap a picture of his competitor’s latest gizmo. But before he captures the image, an electronic foe gets the drop on him and blasts his camera with a blinding burst of light.
Although that scenario is fictional—so far—the counter-espionage system is not. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and spin-off company DominINC, both in Atlanta, have built an automated prototype that uses two infrared-transmitting cameras and a projector to protect a small space from digital spying.