The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it offers low cost, and compact tablet/mobile devices with better wireless connectivity and increased battery life. Lower cost of these devices will enable their widespread use in the society and enable use of broadband services with higher efficiency and better connectivity. The transparent antenna technology offers a platform on which several other applications can be built. For instance, compact health monitoring sensors can be integrated with wireless capability by integrating antennas on their displays. This technology also will also improve wireless capability of wearables as they have very limited real estate for antennas. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop transparent antenna technology for wireless consumer devices. This SBIR project will advance our understanding of interactions between touch sensor and transparent antennas and enable development of multifunctional touch sensors that not only operates as a touch sensor but also a transparent antenna as well. A very comprehensive research approach will be undertaken in Phase I. Namely, in addition to evaluating performance of the antenna technology in the presence of touch sensor, performance of touch sensor in the presence of transparent antennas will also be characterized to ensure that the proposed multi?]functional touch sensors meet the requirements of wireless consumer devices such as tablets and mobile phones.
