Table-top textiles let gadgets 'talk'
5 October 2007
Imagine if all the gadgets in your home could connect to each other without cables. Well in future they might - via bendy electronic sheets embedded in your walls, floors and furniture.
Antenna finds out more...
Image: IEDM/University of Tokyo
Wireless technology already lets us swap files between our mobiles and computers. But now ingenious Japanese researchers have taken cable-free electronics to the next level, reports New Scientist magazine. They've created flexible electronic sheets that allow gadgets placed on them to connect with each other.
The sheets can be attached to many types of surface over large areas, such as tables, walls and floors. Just putting your phone on the table would let it connect to your TV, camera and PC.
Image:Stock.XCHNG/Rodrigo Flor
'At the moment there are lots of separate electronic devices all around us,' explains Tsuyoshi Sekitani, a researcher on the project. 'But in the near future they could all be communicating with each other, helping enhance our daily lives.
'Connecting gadgets in this way cuts out the need to plug gadgets together and allows them to all be controlled from one central hub.'
Tsuyoshi Sekitani worked with colleagues at the University of Tokyo, Japan to create the electronic sheets.
Image: Someya lab, University of Tokyo, Japan
How does the material work?
The sheet is made of clear, flexible plastic divided into small square grids. Each grid contains tiny transistors and a copper coil that form a circuit. This is connected to its neighbours via thin copper wires, which allow electronic data to flow through the material.
The team have built a 21-centimetre-square electronic sheet and used it to connect two mini robots together.
Image: IEDM/University of Tokyo
Every gadget that touches the sheet sends out a radio signal, connecting wirelessly with the electronics inside the material. This means that when two devices are placed on the sheet they can use it to swap information.
The nifty new material has several advantages over conventional wireless techniques. The closeness of the gadget to the sheet's surface makes the radio connection more secure, so it's harder for hackers to tap into. And the sheet can be created using a simple ink-jet printer, making it cheap and easy to produce.
The material was printed in the lab using the team's ink-jet printer.
Image: Someya lab, University of Tokyo, Japan
Computing expert Chris Wren thinks the material holds great potential for the future of cable-free gadgets. 'This could be the magic wiring that plugs all our devices together. When I put my mobile down on the table it could become integrated into the home, using the house speakers to play my music and the plasma screen to show incoming calls.
'Because you are physically connecting the gadget with the table this is a much more natural way of interacting with technology. I think the ground is fertile for this type of technology to be accepted into our lives.'
Chris Wren from the Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Massachusetts, USA.
Image: Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs
So far, the team have only built small patches of the material connecting just two devices together. But they hope to scale this up as their technology improves.
'At the moment the size of our printers limits how large we can make the electronic sheets, but in the future we should be able to make huge sheets connecting lots of devices together,' says Tsuyoshi. 'It will also be possible to connect more than one sheet in different locations.'
This is how the material could be used in the future.
Image: IEDM/University of Tokyo
'It will be really interesting to see how this technology develops in the future,' says Chris. 'You could imagine a whole house where all the electronics devices are connected and tuning in to each other. It could open up a whole new world of electronics that we can't yet foresee.'