August 23, 2011 04:12 pm EDT

Buckeyes embed antennas in clothes, couture to improve radio reception?

We like what's in our wardrobe to be multifunctional, and we've seen threads do double duty as keyboards, flashlights and even drum kits in our day. Now, researchers at Ohio State have come up with a way to turn the shirt on your back into an omnidirectional antenna to boost radio reception. To do so, they etched brass wires into plastic film to create flexible antennae, and stitched 4 of them into the shoulders, chest and back of a vest. Using a computer controller the size of a deck of cards clipped to the wearers belt, the system senses body movement and activates the appropriate antenna to get the best signal. You see, antennae don't work so well when touching human skin -- as any iPhone 4 owner can attest -- and the multiple antenna system alleviates that problem while providing "significantly greater signal strength" than a standard antenna. The researchers see the technology having great appeal for the military, law enforcement, and emergency personnel, but here's hoping they make a consumer version, too. It'd be nice to eliminate all those cell-service dead spots by simply donning a jacket, right?

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Buckeyes embed antennas in clothes, couture to improve radio reception? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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