Jacket to connect wearable tech using data waves

• Autores: David Hambling
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2902, 2013, pág. 18
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • A new wireless technique that uses a phenomenon known as Zenneck surface waves could be the answer of a convenient communication. This type of electromagnetic wave stays at the interface between the surface of an object and the air, rather than traveling through open space. Janice Turner and colleagues at Roke Manor Research in Romsey, UK, have created a demonstration system that uses the waves to send high-definition video over a short length of material. It has a bandwidth of up to 1.5 gigabits per second, making it almost three times faster than Wi-Fi. The signal does not travel through the material but rather over its surface for a few centimeters. Turner's team has worked with a fabric made of a dielectric-coated conducting material. This could be tailored into a jacket to enable worn devices to communicate in a personal network. For example, a lapel camera, a wrist display and a pulse-monitor bracelet could all communicate through the jacket via surface waves.