Hacker News Reader

Comment by T_S_ | Hacker News Reader

Why can't the TSA make me a suit? They already have the measurements. I'm barely half joking here. Seems like this is one of those unsolved "solved problems".

View on HN

You may have something here. You wouldn't even need millimeter waves to do it. Just a 3D scanner setup, which can amount to an old projector and some webcams. We should be able to use technology from 3D motion capture to build a physical model of someone's skeleto-muscular system. The hard part would be the domain knowledge. Someone would have to work closely with a tailor to convert his/her specialized knowledge about fabrics and seams and how clothing hangs off the body into algorithms. (And even then, you'd probably need a trained operator with a sense of design.)

X-rays used to be very popular for shoe fitting. I strongly suspect that millimeter waves have similar long term health issues. And I don't see many getting naked in front of a 3D video camera set-up.

Millimeter waves are not ionizing, while the x-rays used by TSA backscatter machines and medical x-rays are.

The question isn't whether or not they're ionizing. The question is whether or not they have adverse biological actions.

Its highly likely that those are in fact the same question.

Not when asked by me.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=physiological+effects+of...

My general sense: any health effects are likely to be weak at levels typically encountered, but I'm holding as plausible that thee may be some effects.

Microwave oven radio waves are non-ionizing 2.4 Ghz and I suspect they cause several health issues to any living organism exposed to them, even for a short time.

They aren't, unless you're in the oven. And that's different.

For some people, there's a risk on the outside as well. Pacemakers.

Less so these days, but still.

My understanding is that there's a possibility of creating induced current in the pacemaker. Which is to say, the non-ionizing radiation has an effect at a distance, albeit in a manufactured artifact, not (in this case) organic tissue.

It is not the 2.4Ghz radiation that causes the trouble with pacemakers. Its the plain old magnetic field generated by the inductive inrush from the giant coils that convert the power to feed to the magnetron tube in the microwave. Any large inductive load poses the same risk.

I'm getting slightly different information. The best "how do Microwaves interfere with pacemakers" info I could find was from The Straight Dope, which indicated that it was actually microwave leakage, not the coils themselves, which induced the current. And I'm aware that among the reasons you don't nuke metallic objects is because of the charges induced. Another source showing effects of various EMR frequencies indicated that induced currents were among the effects of microwave and other longer-wave radiation.

That said, other risks for pacemakers include store anti-theft devices, most of which are also inductive coils so far as I understand.

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/ionize_nonionize.html

Effects of radiation chart showing induced current effect.

One wouldn't have to be naked. With the right kind of camera and lighting, customers could also be wearing an opaque gown. (Some care would have to be taken to ensure that the software isn't tampered with.)

The Brooks Brothers on Madison Ave got a "digital tailor" setup about five years ago.

"Cut for you" in Berlin uses a 3D body scanner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRdTSugYdjc

Went through extra scanning at the airport and are angry? No worries, here's a lottery ticket for a Bespoke suit!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com