Innovations & technologies

The US military figured out how to ‘digitally map’ a room before soldiers kick in the door

One of the most dangerous places to fight a battle is inside a city — with countless places that an enemy can hide. And as soldiers enter a room, they still face a frightening uncertainty of what's behind the door.

But DARPA researchers have a way for soldiers to know exactly what they are getting into before they go in, and it could be in their ruck sacks in the next few years.

Known as VirtualEye, a soldier armed with a laptop or tablet can throw a couple of cameras into a building and get a three-dimensional view of what's inside, moving around the space with a controller to see where the enemy might be hiding.