Have you ever lost your keys in the couch and haven’t been able to find them? What if your keys had the capability to message your phone and tell you where you left them? Or, have you ever run out of battery on your smartphone and had to send an important message but just couldn’t? Well engineers at the University of Washington have created a new wireless communication system that allows devices to interact with each other without relying on batteries!
All technical terms aside (because I have no idea what they mean), the devices use ambient backscatter to interact with devices without the use of batteries. Meaning, they exchange information by reflecting or absorbing pre-existing radio signals.
What is really interesting is the future applications of this technology. The technology could be implanted into the structure of bridges or even homes to monitor their structural integrity. Since the devices have no need for batteries there is no need to maintain the devices. Therefore, if there was a hairline crack in the concrete of a bridge, the device could communication with another device letting someone know of the fault in the bridge. Also, these devices could be implanted into our keys, giving the keys they technology to communicate with our cell phones or other devices so we don’t painstakingly lose them all the time. Lets just say I wouldn't mind this device to be in my coffee cup so I will stop misplacing it around my house in the mornings!
If you would like to know more about the technical description of the device or see more possible future implications, please refer to this link!
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