You ’ve believably already encountered print ads that offer some level of additional interactivity . For example , this advertising for ban food that automatically shroud itselfin the mien of constabulary officeholder . Interactivity is becoming a popular direction to draw attention to publish advertising that would otherwise be ignored . But the engineering is expensive , and also requires a never-ending germ of mightiness , limiting where and who can use it .
That ’s what makes these ‘ telling posters ’ developed at the University of Washington so unequalled . Unlike wi - fi and Bluetooth , notoriously power - hungry wireless technology , the tiny , coin - sized battery you ’d find in a cheap digital picket can keep a singing poster power for a match of days .
The research worker took reward of a proficiency call “ backscattering , ” where existing FM program from a local radio station are reflected and modified by simple electronics relate to an transmitting aerial made of bull tape measure attached to the back of the post horse .
The electronics on the poster manipulate the FM signals to encode newfangled audio frequency or data point as they ’re being reflected , without interrupting the original radio broadcasts , which is a irreverence of FCC regulation . The bounced and modified FM signals coming from the bill sticker actually occupy a nearby , but unused , part of the FM radio band , so the original programme can still be heard .
Thankfully , the engineering wo n’t just make your smartphone start blaring melodic phrase as you take the air past the advert . A mobile gadget will need to have a work up - in radio for the broadcast to be heard , and a user will have to tune to the specific FM relative frequency indicated on the poster . Like a print ad , the broadcasts are still easy to neglect as you walk past .
The applied science does n’t come without compromises , either . In demonstrations where fake FM signals were sent from a card to a nearby smartphone , the range was limited to about 12 feet . When commit to a car , the range was closer to 60 foot , given the larger antenna sticking out of most fomite .
The other big hangup for using this technology to rebroadcast sound recording is the sound lineament . A band might be less prepared to publicize its music using FM waves backscattered off a post-horse , because the sound end up sounding considerably worse than even AM radio . So , singing notice might be well suited to sending digital data to a roving gimmick , like info on concert tickets , or a URL to a band ’s website .
It ’s also important to luff out that this approach is useless without existing FM broadcasts to misrepresent . At this point , most of the country is still saturated in FM receiving set broadcasts , but it will undoubtedly process better in crowded urban areas that are closer to radio broadcast towers .
The technology is n’t limited to just making advertising more irritating . The electronics and antennas embedded in the research worker ’ poster could be modified to create smart textile , grant a detector - equip shirt sensors to broadcast wellness and physical fitness data to a smartphone app , without requiring an jock to commemorate to recharge their exercising gear every nighttime before seam .
[ University of WashingtonviaNew Atlas ]
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