Wouldn't it be great if you could just pop out a can of spray-on antenna and boost your signal whenever it was running low? Chamtech Enterprises is hoping to make that dream a reality, and if you happen to work for the government, it already is, according to Chamtech's Solve for X presentation.
Chamtech took to Google's Solve for X to show off the new technology. The company plans to turn its focus towards mobile phones and medical devices, offering a quick solution to boosting signals from existing antennas, or creating new ones. Chamtech's 'antenna in a can' is far more efficient than traditional antenna models, offering energy savings equal to 12 times the amount of energy generated by solar and wind in the US annually - and it even works great underwater.
A traditional antenna would require thousands of watts to send out a signal with a one mile range underwater. Chamtech's can do that with only three watts, and have a stronger signal to boot. So how does all of this work?
The truth is, we don't really know. According to Chamtech's co-founder Anthony Sutera, he and his team came up with it in his living room two years ago. It works by manipulating magnetic and radio signals through mysterious organic materials, and you can spray it on any virtually any surface and hook into it with a flexible circuit cable.
According to Sutera, the US government has had a lot of success with the technology, getting better performance out of it than their existing portable antennas, which he described as some of the best around. With the efficiency and mobility offered, it could even be used to rapidly deploy new infrastructure in disaster areas.
Sutera and chief technology officer Rhett Spencer have coated their car antennas with the stuff, boasting that they can now listen to radio stations in Salt Lake City fifty miles away, with 10,000-foot mountain range in between. Within a few months, they hope to be thinking about financing the company, and are looking at venture capital options to help them bring their technology to you.
For his part, Spencer can't wait. “Can you imagine the infrastructure side of things? Telecomm under the oceans, Internet infrastructure, ships and satellite communications in the sea– they can do it out under the water.” Check out video of Chamtech's Solve for X presentation below.
Thanks to Neowin member brink668 for the tip.
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