It’s Only Common Sense: Invest in Yourself—You’re Your Most Important Resource
Dan's Biz Bookshelf: 'Revenge of the Tipping Point'
Marcy's Musings: Engineering Economics
NUS Innovation Boosts Wireless Connectivity 1,000 Times
July 17, 2019 | NUSEstimated reading time: 4 minutes
The team has a first-year provisional patent on the metamaterial textile design, which consists of a comb-shaped strip of metamaterial on top of the clothing with an unpatterned conductor layer underneath. These strips can then be arranged on clothing in any pattern necessary to connect all areas of the body. The metamaterial itself is cost-effective, in the range of a few dollars per metre, and can be bought readily in rolls.
“We started with a specific metamaterial that was both flat and could support surface waves. We had to redesign the structure so that it could work at the frequencies used for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, perform well even when close to the human body, and could be mass produced by cutting sheets of conductive textile,” Asst Prof Ho explained.
The team’s particular design was created with the aid of a computer model to ensure successful communication in the radio frequency range and to optimise overall efficacy. The smart clothing is then fabricated by laser-cutting the conductive metamaterial and attaching the strips with fabric adhesive.
Once made, the ‘smart’ clothes are highly robust. They can be folded and bent with minimal loss to the signal strength, and the conductive strips can even be cut or torn, without inhibiting the wireless capabilities. The garments can also be washed, dried, and ironed just like normal clothing.
Next Steps
The team is talking to potential partners to commercialise this technology, and in the near future Asst Prof Ho is hoping to test the ‘smart’ textiles as specialised athletic clothing and for hospital patients to monitor performances and health. Potential applications could range dramatically — from measuring a patient’s vital signs without inhibiting their freedom of motion, to adjusting the volume in an athlete’s wireless headphones with a single hand motion.
“We envision that endowing athletic wear, medical clothing and other apparel with such advanced electromagnetic capabilities can enhance our ability to perceive and interact with the world around us,” Asst Prof Ho said.
Share on:
Suggested Items
HPC Customer Engages Sondrel for High End Chip Design
11/25/2024 | SondrelSondrel, a leading provider of ultra-complex custom chips, has announced that it has started front end, RTL design and verification work on a high-performance computing (HPC) chip project for a major new customer.
Compal, ZutaCore Collaborate to Showcase Groundbreaking Waterless Two-Phase Liquid Cooling Server Solutions at SC24
11/25/2024 | Compal Electronics Inc.Compal Electronics, a global leader in server innovation, has partnered with ZutaCore®, a leading provider of waterless direct-to-chip two-phase liquid cooling (2P DLC) solutions, to introduce a series of groundbreaking server solutions.
Keysight, Instrumentix Partner to Launch Complete Trade Monitoring Solution for Financial Markets
11/21/2024 | Keysight TechnologiesKeysight Technologies, Inc. expanded its financial capital markets portfolio through a partnership with Instrumentix to introduce a cutting-edge trade solution.
Gartner Forecasts MENA IT Spending to Grow 7.4% in 2025
11/20/2024 | Gartner, Inc.IT spending in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is projected to total $230.7 billion in 2025, an increase of 7.4% from 2024, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc.
ASMPT: Highly Flexible Die and Flip-chip Bonder for Co-packaged Optics Production
11/20/2024 | ASMPTThe high-precision AMICRA NANO die and flip-chip bonder has been specially developed for the production of co-packaged optics where which optical and electronic components are integrated in a common housing. With its exceptional process stability and a placement accuracy of ±0.2 μm @ 3 σ, this innovative bonding system is ideally equipped for the communication technology of the future.