Quantum computing is Or a a distant dream or immediate reality depending on which you ask. And for a large part of this year’s quantum village at the Defcon A security conference in Las Vegas is focused on emerging research and threatening analysis, village co -founders Victoria Kumaran and Mark Carney are also working to make currently available quantitative technology more accessible to hackers and anyone else.
At the main stage Defcon Talk on Saturday, the couple will present an open source and accessible quantitative sensor, which can serve various uses, from medical technologies to GPS alternatives. And it is all powered by a special yet accessible diamond with separate atomic properties. The first generation design could be mounted from about $ 120 to $ 160 depending on suppliers and shipping times. The second version, which Kumaran and Carney present this weekend, can be built for even less, and the couple says they will publish a third version on this autumn on the basis of community tests and inputs, which they hope will cost only $ 50 to build.
Quantum sensors detect extremely slight variations in magnetic and electric fields, enabling ultra-accurate measurements. Atomic watches that keep almost perfect time, for example, are quantitative sensors that have been used for decades. For researchers and enthusiasts interested in learning more about quantum feeling, yet the barrier to entry was quite high. So the relatively accessible, open source “Uncut Gem” of the Quantum Village creates a real opportunity for more people to build their own quantitative sensors and explore the technology.
“You can do things that you couldn’t do before, how to use quantitative sensors to start building portable MRI-style devices that can be used in all different countries,” Kumaran told Wired before their presentation. “These are diamonds with defects, synthetic diamonds, which are the cheapest off-cuts you can get. I think there is something a bit poetic that synthetic diamonds have this usefulness.”
Most of the components needed for the quantum sensor are simple off-shelf computer parts, but the diamond must be what is known as “nitrogen-vacancy diamond.” Its special molecular properties are thanks to the presence of nitrogen atoms, which replace some carbon atoms in the atomic structure of the diamond.
In addition to potential medical applications, quantitative sensors can be used in alternative navigation technologies that track electromagnetic wave interference. Such tools could be used as local alternatives to GPS in the case of Global system failures Or targeted blockade. US Space Force is currently testing What edition called the “highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever tested in space.”
For the vast majority of people who do not have access to the world’s highest fulfilling quantum sensors, yet the unintended GEM project represents an opportunity to democratize and expand quantum sensory technology. The project Joins others In different fields of hacking, which were oriented to cheap, accessible projects and components.
Independent researcher Davide Gessa tested the untouched gem patterns and code.
