History Main / InfraredXRayCamera

[[folder:Webcomic]]
* In ''Webcomic/JupiterMen'', One of Arrio's spells, "Ojo de Fuego" (Eye of Fire), lets him see the infrared spectrum to locate others through their heat signatures. This also lets him see through walls to see the silhouettes of people behind them.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE59BlindAsABat Blind as a Bat]]", this forms one of Wayne Enterprises' new developments. When Bruce Wayne is temporarily blinded in an explosion, he refines this technology into a pair of goggles. [[DiabolusExMachina The wire which connects the goggles to a battery pack breaks as he was getting out of the Batwing]]. Back to square one, as they say...

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* ''Literature/FateZero'': Kiritsugu Emiya, the "[[MageKiller Magus Killer]]", uses infrared goggles to detect Magi, since their body temperature rises higher than normal when they use their Magecraft.

* Occurs in ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'', when Dr. Jumba Jookiba tracks Stitch inside a dog pound via a pair of infrared binoculars. Possibly justified due to [[AppliedPhlebotinum alien technology.]]

* This was definitely popularized by, and may have come from, ''Film/BlueThunder'' and its TV spinoff, where the helicopter mounts IR sensors that do ''precisely'' this.

* A dual-scope setup is installed on a [=WA2000=] sniper rifle (that uses a tripod, no less) by the ColdSniper Emiya Kiritsugu in the light novel ''Literature/FateZero''; one is night-vision, the other thermal. Done somewhat correctly, as it's used to track magi, who when using magecraft will have an increased body temperature from the [[FunctionalMagic Circuits]]. The target in question was about 300 meters away, and the sniper switched over to night-vision to confirm his target before lining up a shot.
* ''Literature/PhoenixForce'': In "Tooth and Claw", a KGB hit team tracks down Gary Manning to a hotel room and use an InfraredXRayCamera to spy on him, only to find he's suddenly disappeared from the screen. On investigating they find a [[SleepingDummy mannequin]] with a remote-control battery-operated thermal unit that distributes heat to various parts of the 'body'. They also find a BoobyTrap...

[[folder:LiveActionTelevision]]
* ''Series/CSIMiami'' where it was used to look into a boat.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' to look through the walls of a house.
* This was subverted in the ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' episode, ''The Watchers'' when we find out that Hetty installed heaters in the roof of the boatshed to prevent this.
* An episode of ''Series/MythBusters'' showed the inability of infrared to look through glass when an infrared sensor was spoofed by placing a small pane of glass in front of it, allowing access to a monitored hallway.
** On the other hand, another episode showed a thermal infrared camera was able to see through a dust cloud that obscured visible light. It wasn't until the team used a set of CO[[subscript:2]] extinguishers to obscure body heat that they were able to fool it.
* A fourth season episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had the Initiative using an infrared scanner to spot the vampire Spike through the walls of a dorm. Doubly implausible in that his "room temperature" signature actually showed up as a blue spot, against the background heat of the room.
* On ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'', CTU (Usually Chloe) regularly sends Jack a rundown of the occupants of a particular building and what their current location is, all by using infrared satellites.

* ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'' used a variant when body-heat signatures pinpointed survivors trapped in the wreckage of a train crash. Arguably might've been justified, in that Charlie sent small camera-armed robots into the wreck to observe the trapped victims directly, rather than through intervening walls. Unfortunately, the signatures of two unlucky victims vanished within seconds of their demise, whereas a real body's heat would take many minutes to disperse.
* The short-lived series ''Series/BlueThunder'' had this as one of the abilities of the eponymous super-copter. The infrared scanner could see through walls and showed the results on the usual color-coded display screen in the cockpit. One notable example had the camera looking through the wooden walls of an old barn to detect an aircraft with a suspiciously warm engine.
* On an episode of ''Series/BurnNotice'' where Team Westen deals with a [[TheMafiya Mafiya]] human-trafficking ring, Fiona uses one of these to scope out the interior of a Russian restaurant. Sam asks where she got it; apparently her neighbor is a peeping Tom.
** In another episode a regular digital camera is used to spot the infrared laser being bounced off one of the apartment's windows in order to eavedrop on Michael (in such a system the laser can measure vibrations in the glass and output it as sound from inside the room. This is TruthInTelevision to an extent; digital cameras ''can'' see otherwise invisible infrared; point your remote at your camera and push a button while looking at the screen. Glass is opaque to infrared but plausibly the intensely focused laser may get some through.)
* A ''Series/LawAndOrder'' episode used infrared scanner imaging to secure a search warrant on a mosque. The defendant's lawyer successfully argued that the technology violated the Fourth Amendment without a warrant specifying its use and got the evidence seized there thrown out.
* Episode "Fallen Angel" from ''Series/TheXFiles'' featured [[VisibleInvisibility invisible aliens]] and one of them was seen through a heat-source sensing device through walls.

* The album cover and the music video of ''Music/EmotionalRescue'' (1980) by Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} were both shot making use of thermal imagery.
* There's "making use" of thermal imagery. And then there's Muse's ''Stockholm Syndrome''. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXN9acC9edU entire video]] is shot with an IR camera. The only time Matt Bellamy had more red on him was when [[http://www.everyjoe.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/zumalive893840-muse-live-at-wembley_new-album-the-resistance.jpg he performed at Wembley]].
* Earl Sweatshirt's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ5Mu2gs-M8 Grief]].
* Route 94 - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS46C2z5lVE My Love ft. Jess Glynne]].

[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* Many species in 1st and 2nd Edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' had "infravision"; the fifteen years of arguments and debates about how exactly this power worked and what you could and could not do with it led to the "darkvision" power in 3rd edition.

* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' averts this trope, noting that it works largely like regular sight and is blocked by walls (although they fail to note that glass blocks it), only allowing Infravision as an alternative to regular sight. Of course, it is possible to get Penetrates Concealment Infravision by paying a few more points but this is also a game where it's possible to get HeatVision, so physics has little to do with it.

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* Most of the ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' games, however, avoid this. Infrared goggles and thermal scopes don't see through anything solid, and the vision gets less distinct as distance increases. Enemies further away will be only slightly brighter colors than the background haze, and if sufficiently far will blend in entirely. They are mostly useful for seeing enemies in smoke-filled areas.
* ''VideoGame/SplinterCell''. Oddly, compared to the realism of most of the series, glass is thermally transparent. Unless, of course, there's a light shining through it.
* Averted in the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series, where you can't see through walls or objects with infrared - even enough ''air'' provides an opaque obstacle as its lower temperature masks the heat from the target. However, in one mission in ''Chaos Theory'' you can see through thin paper walls (thin as in "reach through and grab somebody" thin). The thermal signature is really faint, so it may very well be plausible.
* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', where the thermal visor can't see mechanical targets (turrets, drones, etc) or things you've shot with the [[FreezeRay Ice Beam]], can be overloaded by enemies that generate large quantities of heat, and is mostly (but not completely) useless in lava areas. You can see electrical conduits in the walls, though - evidently the Space Pirates bought really cheap wire and/or put too many appliances on the circuits. The cheap wiring fits with evidence the Scan Visor gives in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' that the Space Pirates seem to cheap out on maintenance quite a bit.
* Used in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune: Double Helix''. The infrared goggles allow you to see people and dogs (and nothing else) in range as bright red silhouettes, even through walls.

* In ''VideoGame/GhostSquad'', you can actually use the infrared goggles to snipe through the walls of a straw hut. Why they had infrared goggles on a daylight mission is left unanswered.
* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR 2]]'''s elite power armor has a fairly realistic false color thermal imaging mode; it doesn't exclusively show people, as fire and other power armor (which are incredibly heat inefficient) also shows up.

* Nanovision in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'' is a combination of night and infrared visions that can see through dust and smoke ([[DownplayedTrope not perfectly, but still better than the naked eye]]).
* The thermal vision in ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter'' doesn't see through cover, although the HUD can display the sillhouettes of concealed enemies that have already been spotted by other means.
* Smart vision in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', in keeping with the ShownTheirWork theme for the workings of augmentations, explicitly uses the previously mentioned T-rays which can feasibly behave this way. From the in-game description: "...provides the implanted prosthesis with the ability to match visual silhouettes and body kinetics to micro-thermograph and t-wave lens modules, thus providing a limited degree of “x-ray vision” through walls and light cover."
* The ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' games force the Predator to switch between ''four'' vision modes (one of them being normal human sight, probably for gameplay purposes) to highlight enemies; the IR scan won't highlight Aliens. Later adopted in ''Film/AVPAlienVsPredator'', where the Predator is distinctly shown switching vision modes to track Aliens instead of humans.
** The later ''VideoGame/AlienVsPredator'' game also has three vision modes (normal visible light, infrared, green vision thingy) in order to see humans and aliens when they try to hide, but neither can be seen when they are behind walls.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheTombRaider'', where the game explicitly says that IR-equipped enemies can't see Lara through walls. Lara can also smear herself with mud to mask her own heat signature.

[[folder:WebOriginal]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Homer Bad Man", Kent Brockman uses an infrared camera and mistakes a turkey roasting in the oven for Homer.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'' villain Red Eye uses one of these.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}} 3'', Nuju uses his telescopic eye-enhancement to see in thermal-vision, and find Rahaga Norik buried under a pile of rubble. Helpfully, it even gives him a [[HeadsUpDisplay readout]] of the name of every character he focuses on.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Blind as a Bat," this formed one of Wayne Enterprises' new developments. When Bruce Wayne was temporarily blinded in an explosion, he refined this technology into a pair of goggles. [[DiabolusExMachina The wire which connected the goggles to a battery pack broke as he was getting out of the Batwing]]. Back to square one, as they say...

[[folder:RealLife]]

* Used in ''Film/RoboCop1987'' to surreptitiously pinpoint the location of a hostage-taker; after that it's just a matter of [[BarrierBustingBlow reaching through the wall]] and grabbing.
* Not a camera, but the monsters of ''Film/Tremors2Aftershocks'' see in infrared. And subvert the usual X-Ray properties assumed to go with it; at one point the heroes hide themselves by holding doors in front of their bodies while moving, making themselves nigh-invisible to the beasties. A character also hides in the bucket of a backhoe which, as the monsters are short, they can't look over the sides to see into while milling around.
* ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'':
** In the original ''Film/{{Predator}}'', this is subverted. Dutch realizes that the creature sees in infrared when it can't spot him covered in (cooler) mud which temporarily disguised his body heat. When the film shows scenes from the Predator's point of view, the body heat of the humans is blocked by cooler objects in the foreground such as vegetation, just like it really would be. However, in real life, the mud would warm up due to the body heat pretty quickly, as demonstrated by the ''Series/MythBusters''.
** In ''Film/{{Predator 2}}'', however, a variant is seen where the Predator picks up a woman and after a black-out implying a switch, sees a fetus inside of her.
** In ''Film/{{Predators}}'', it's stated that the Predators are learning to adapt; when [[spoiler: Adrian Brody tries to use the same tricks as Dutch, the lead Predator switches vision modes to a heartbeat sensor]].

* This was definitely popularized by, and may have come from, both the movie and television versions of ''Film/BlueThunder'', where the helicopter mounts IR sensors that do ''precisely'' this.
* ''Film/JamesBond''

** Averted in ''Film/{{Thunderball}}''. The camera Q issues to Bond just lets him take pictures of the ''[[CoolBoat Disco Volante's]] exterior. Albeit in the dark and underwater.
* ''Film/NavySeals'' (1990). The SEAL Team sniper uses a .50 caliber rifle with a thermal scope with these miraculous capabilities. His call sign is (appropriately) "God".
* Played straight in ''Film/{{Eraser}}'' with the [[MagneticWeapon EM-1]]. Not only can the scope see through walls but it also sees through [[DemBones people]] to specifically target a beating heart. It's notable that anyone can see the green spotlight that is, basically, the weapon's equivalent of the [[LaserSight red dot]]. Kruger is able to hide himself and the witness by hiding behind a fridge. Presumably, both the metal and the cold foil the scope.
* ''Film/XXx''. Xander uses special binoculars to peep through things, including a wall.

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Kiritsugu Emiya, the "[[MageKiller Magus Killer]]", uses infrared goggles to detect Magi, since their body temperature rises higher than normal when they use their Magecraft.

* A dual-scope setup is installed on a [=WA2000=] sniper rifle (that uses a tripod, no less) by the ColdSniper Emiya Kiritsugu in the light novel ''LightNovel/FateZero''; one is night-vision, the other thermal. Done somewhat correctly, as it's used to track magi, who when using magecraft will have an increased body temperature from the [[FunctionalMagic Circuits]]. The target in question was about 300 meters away, and the sniper switched over to night-vision to confirm his target before lining up a shot.

* The Steyr AUG in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilterTheOmegaStrain'' has a false-color infrared scope with this effect. Same for the infrared goggles in ''Dark Mirror''.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' is quite guilty of a variation of this, with heat sensors able to tell whether a mobile suit is manned. In space. Through several feet of armor. In a cockpit that is insulated enough to allow remain at a comfortable temperature even in space. Mobile suits have fusion reactors as well. And rockets all over. As well as using high-powered beam weaponry. But no, apparently the only source of heat on a mobile suit comes from the pilot.

* On [[Series/TwentyFour 24]], CTU (Usually Chloe) regularly sends Jack a rundown of the occupants of a particular building and what their current location is, all by using infrared satellites.

* Used in ''SoldierOfFortune: Double Helix''. The infrared goggles allow you to see people and dogs (and nothing else) in range as bright red silhouettes, even through walls.

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', where the thermal visor can't see mechanical targets (turrets, drones, etc) or things you've shot with the [[FreezeRay Ice Beam]], can be overloaded by enemies that generate large quantities of heat, and is completely useless in lava areas. You can see electrical conduits in the walls, though - evidently the Space Pirates bought really cheap wire and/or put too many appliances on the circuits. The cheap wiring fits with evidence the Scan Visor gives in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' that the Space Pirates seem to cheap out on maintenance quite a bit.

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', where the thermal visor can't see mechanical targets (turrets, drones, etc) or things you've shot with the ice cannon, can be overloaded by enemies that generate large quantities of heat, and is completely useless in lava areas. You can see electrical conduits in the walls, though - evidently the Space Pirates bought really cheap wire and/or put too many appliances on the circuits. The cheap wiring fits with evidence the Scan Visor gives in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' that the Space Pirates seem to cheap out on maintenance quite a bit.

* The album cover and the music video of ''Music/EmotionalRescue'' (1980) by Music/TheRollingStones were both shot making use of thermal imagery.

** Same with ''VideoGame/SplinterCell''. Oddly, compared to the realism of most of the series, glass is thermally transparent. Unless, of course, there's a light shining through it.
* Averted in the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series, where you can't see through walls or objects with infrared - even enough ''air'' provides an opaque obstacle as its lower temperature masks the heat from the target.
** However, in one mission in ''Chaos Theory'' you can see through thin paper walls (thin as in "reach through and grab somebody" thin). The thermal signature is really faint, so it may very well be plausible.
* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', where the thermal visor can't see mechanical targets (turrets, drones, etc) or things you've shot with the ice cannon, can be overloaded by enemies that generate large quantities of heat, and is completely useless in lava areas. You can see electrical conduits in the walls, though - evidently the Space Pirates bought really cheap wire and/or put too many appliances on the circuits.
** Although this can actually be TruthInTelevision. Even if the conduits weren't overheating, if they were of a material with a different heat capacity than the wall they could heat up or cool down the area of the wall they were in contact with. Using a thermal imager it's possible to identify the studs in a wall because of the slight difference in temperature between the wooden or metal studs and the air spaces/insulation between them which creates a slight difference in the temperature of the wall. Of course you'd never see that (one of the cool things infrared ''can'' do) on TV or in the movies...
** ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' is apparently in TheFuture [[MST3KMantra after all]]. But the cheap wiring fits with evidence the Scan Visor gives in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' that the Space Pirates seem to cheap out on maintenance quite a bit.

** Possibly for the same reason actual military forces keep night vision goggles on them, even on day missions. On the other hand, one soldier in ''Film/BlackHawkDown'' decided to forgo night vision in favor of grabbing extra ammo, along with many others. They paid dearly for this when they ended up stuck on the battlefield all the way into the night, without one of their greatest tactical advantages. Obviously, while this explains ''why'' the above soldier had infrared, but not why it worked. It really depends on ambient temperature.

* Near-infrared (wavelengths of 700 nm to 1400 nm): Produced by objects that are glowing hot (light bulbs, the sun, fires). Most "night vision" cameras use this because the sensors are cheap (just stick a visible-light-blocking filter over a digital camera sensor) and because you can illuminate an area with IR-emitting [=LEDs=] without anyone noticing. Most greyscale night images are using this part of the infrared spectrum. Glass is quite transparent to this, as are many lightweight fabrics (most notably, those used in swimsuits). Metal reflects it, and most opaque objects block it. If you assume it behaves like visible light, you usually won't be wrong.

* Occurs in ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'', when Dr. Jumba Jookiba tracks Stitch inside a dog pound via a pair of infrared binoculars. Possibly justified due to [[AppliedPhlebotinum alien technology.]]

* Partially subverted in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', where the thermal visor can't see mechanical targets (turrets, drones, etc) or things you've shot with the ice cannon, can be overloaded by enemies that generate large quantities of heat, and is completely useless in lava areas. You can see electrical conduits in the walls, though - evidently the Space Pirates bought really cheap wire and/or put too many appliances on the circuits.

* The old TV series ''Series/{{Probe}}'' featured a piece of AppliedPhlebotinum which could, among other things, see a lock mechanism inside its metal casing.

** Same with ''VideoGame/SplinterCell''. Oddly, compared to the realism of most of the series, glass is thermically transparent. Unless, of course, there's a light shining through it.

** However, in one mission in ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory Chaos Theory]]'' you can see through thin paper walls (thin as in "reach through and grab somebody" thin). The thermal signature is really faint, so it may very well be plausible.

* Thermal imaging cameras make use of long-wave infrared to detect the temperature of objects, which often allows the user to see things hidden to the naked eye. In fact, FLIR (the world's largest thermal camera maker) calls thermal imaging "the world's sixth sense." However, they are very expensive due to high demand and low volumes.

* Some Sony cameras feature "Nightshot" modes, that allow to [[http://irbuzz.blogspot.com/2007/05/ir-for-beginners-sony-nightshot-cameras.html take images]] on absolute darkness using infrared wavelengths. It's more of a gimmick, though.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_viper Pit vipers]] have a biological version of this. Their name comes from small pits in their heads that let them sense infrared. While they can't see through objects, this sense allows them to hunt prey and avoid predators at night. It's more of a gimmick, though.
* Some Sony cameras feature "Nightshot" modes, that allow to [[http://irbuzz.blogspot.com/2007/05/ir-for-beginners-sony-nightshot-cameras.html take images]] on absolute darkness using infrared wavelengths.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_viper Pit vipers]] have a biological version of this. Their name comes from small pits in their heads that let them sense infrared. While they can't see through objects, this sense allows them to hunt prey and avoid predators at night.

** In another episode a regular digital camera is used to spot the infrared laser being bounced off one of the apartment's windows in order to eavedrop on Michael (in such a system the laser can measure vibrations in the glass and output it as sound from inside the room. This is TruthInTelevision to an extent; digital cameras ''can'' see otherwise invisible infrared; point your remote at your camera and push a button while looking at the screen)

* In the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Blind as a Bat," this formed one of Wayne Enterprises' new developments. When Bruce Wayne was temporarily blinded in an explosion, he refined this technology into a pair of goggles. [[DiabolusExMachina The wire which connected the goggles to a battery pack broke as he was getting out of the Batwing]]. Back to square one, as they say...

** In another episode a regular digital camera is used to spot the infrared laser being bounced off one of the apartment's windows in order to eavedrop on Michael (in such a system the laser can measure vibrations in the glass and output it as sound from inside the room.)

** Darkvision it itself unrealistic, as it apparently shows shapes just fine but lacks color information... which actually acts more like ''sonar'' than anything else! This does, however, provide an interesting explanation for Dwarves' predilection for carved runes -- writing on paper is a color difference that is not visible to darkvision, while chiseled runes (which have a depth difference) ''are''.

* Some materials are transparent to infrared, but opaque to the visible spectrum, so this trope is in play some of the time.