Idaho National Laboratories scientists have developed a new app that will turn smartphone cameras into radiation detectors and are currently testing it on four different Android phones.
The phones have the processing power to detect gamma radiation and using the built-in cameras to measure the radiation levels. The app captures and measures the average energy level, uses a model to determine the type of radioactive material that could be emitting the radiation. The potential users of the app could be firefighters, police officers and other first responders. Funding for the project was made possible by a grant from the Department of Defense’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office.
