Wireless and No Batteries

As far as the great tech stories go, this makes the top of the list. Some engineers at the University of Washington have managed to create several such devices, allowing users to interact or communicate with each other battery-free by repurposing existing radio signals. It’s called ambient backscatter, a technique whereby a device appropriates wireless signals already bouncing around in the atmosphere and uses them both as a power source and a way to communicate with other devices. Ambient backscattering has similarities to RFID, but differs in that it doesn’t require a high-power signal source, has a relatively small footprint and can communicate device-to-device — unlike RFID, where tags have no ability to detect each others’ existence. This could mean great things for internet phones and communication services. Just imagine have this technology in clothing or vehicles. Where else you apply this type of tech?