LOUISVILLE -- Imagine having super powers that enable you to have X-ray vision and see right through someone's clothing.
Well, a super-power is now a reality with a simple addition to a popular home video camera, WLKY NewsChannel 32's Allison Gardner reported Tuesday.
The camera technology is making things people would rather keep hidden visible to video voyeurs. And if you're minding your own business as you walk down the street, you could be the next victim.
Model Malinda Griffith is among those finding out that anyone who's handy with a hand-held home video camera can peer right through your clothing.
"To see through clothing is pretty scary," Griffith said.
The X-ray cameras are popular with video voyeurs, Gardner reported. A local camera dealer who only gave his first name said that all you need to see people's unmentionables is a night-vision home-video camera and an infrared filter.
"Basically, it's just taking the light that's available on the infrared spectrum, and when you do that, you can see through some colors of clothes and fabrics," Rob said.
Large chain stores carry the night-vision home video cameras, but Gardner found some good news for fearful would-be victims when she couldn't find a local outlet that sold the infrared filters. One store, however, said the attachment can be specially ordered. All you have to do is check the Internet, where the cameras and filters are sold on dozens of Web sites, Gardner reported.
Just how good are the cameras? One was good enough to see through Griffith's clothes and reveal her elephant tattoo.
"It definitely makes you feel a little violated," she said.
Since home video cameras are everywhere, the frightening thing is that it's hard to tell if a person nearby is just a tourist or a voyeur, Gardner reported.
"I think it's pretty crazy that there's actually people out there that are buying these things," Griffith said. "I never knew they existed."
So far, the law has not caught up with technology.
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