Turning Objects Into FM Radio Stations

Just imagine if you were driving through a lane and you came across a poster showing a concert from one of your favorite bands in a nearby town. How convenient would it be if you could just tune into a radio station and listen to the music? Or what if you could find a link for discounted tickets from your phone and navigate your way to the venue through navigation app instantly. Or just think when you are jogging around and your shirt senses your rate of perspiration and conveys information about your data signs instantly to your phone.

A similar technology was recently discovered by the University of Washington engineers making the smart “posters” or clothing a real object by giving them permission to communicate directly with your Smartphone or car’s radio. What if hoarding and bus billboards could send digital information about nearby attractions? A street sign can always broadcast name of turn or intersections that is safe for passing which will play a vital role in safety of disabled. Along with, any kind of clothing with infused sensors will be able to monitor vital signs and let you know all details with your phone.

According to one of the lead faculties and UW assistant professor, Shyam Gollakota, who teaches computer science and engineering there, “What we want to do is enable smart cities and fabrics where everyday objects in outdoor environments – whether it’s posters or street signs or even the shirt you are wearing – can ‘talk’ to you by sending information to your phone or car.”

According to Vikram Iyer, the UW electrical engineering doctoral student and co-author of this paper, “The challenge is that radio technologies like WiFi, Bluetooth and conventional FM radios would last less than half a day with a coin cell battery when transmitting. So we developed a new way of communication where we send information by reflecting ambient FM radio signals that are already in the air, which consumes close to zero power.” The team was actually able to demonstrate for the first time how to apply a technique known as “backscattering” for external outdoor FM radio signals. The new system is able to convey messages through reflection and encoding of data and audio signals in these signals that are unnoticed in the urban environment.