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Comment by petters | Hacker News Reader

> ... and laser-based intrusion detection systems

Huh? I thought that was exclusive to movies like Entrapment and Mission Impossible.

It's a fancy term for motion detectors. If my neighbour can afford one for his yard, it's not that crazy to put some in a datacenter :)

Edit: I obviously wasn't implying they're using the same ones. Come on, now >.>

Motion detectors are usually passive infra-red (PIR) sensors - no lasers involved. Unless you can cite a consumer-grade laser-based motion detector, I think this means Google's data centers are protected by slightly higher level gear.

https://www.amazon.com/Homesafe-Safety-Motion-Detector-Senso...

Homesafe Safety Beam Laser Motion Detector Sensor & Alert

Only $39.99!

> This high tech device creates an invisible infrared beam up to 60 feet long and sounds a loud alarm, pleasant chime, or mutiple chimes when the beam is crossed.

From my understanding (after doing a few weeks of research on this for my own home security) the current "top of the line" tech is the Tomographic motion detectors which build up a mesh.

It has been commercialized by a security company named Xandem, some info on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomography

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8updJWoSxE

I'll be purchasing a Xandem system soon

Nope, real-world solutions to monitor air ducts and other spaces that need to be open but which shouldn't have people in them.

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