This is the gear that gets our troops excited. Microflown Technologies’ tiny sensor listens for the sounds of war by measuring particles in the air. Then it reports what weapon made the sound and where that sound originated.

The sensor uses a technology, developed by Microflown, called acoustic vector sensing. AVS heats two 200-nanometer wide platinum strips to 200 degrees Celsius and measures how passing air particles cool them down. From those cooling patterns, Microflown’s proprietary software can determine not only what the sound is but also where it came from.

There are other technologies that can do the same type of thing, but they all have their own unique disadvantages: radar-based solutions are traceable; others require the deployment of large apparatuses, and some need multiple sensors to triangulate sounds.

Microflown’s matchstick almost seems too good to be true, but several nations’ armies—including the Netherlands, Germany, India, Poland, and Australia—are currently testing out the tech and seeing what they hear. [DVICE]

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