When I was a kid, Reebok released sneakers with a computer chip in the tongue that could tell you how fast you ran and how high you jumped. They were called the Reebok Traxtar and I thought they were the coolest thing ever, so I begged my parents to get me a pair.
After lacing them up and running and jumping around the neighborhood, the energetic child in me was dismayed to find that the shoe's beeping noises and LEDs were incomprehensible and the stats made no sense. I was still excited to wear them to school until they started beeping and lighting up during class with no way to turn them off. My teacher soon banned the shoes and I had to return them. 😢
In the 1990s, technologists saw that smart devices would become ubiquitous, potentially becoming an overwhelming source of distraction and information overload. This led to the concept of ambient computing
In stark contrast to my Reebok Traxtars, ambient computing is about moving computing into the background by empowering our devices with accurate context, so they can help us, without getting in the way. The goal is to create calm technology.
This article introduces a new powerful sensing technology—mmWave radar—and how it can make our environments and personal devices better aware and adaptive to our needs.
Rebook Traxtar ad. JCPenney Catalog 2000
On July 13, 2021, the FCC announced a proposal to open up the 60 GHz band for commercial mmWave applications. This opened the floodgates for companies to commercialize products using mmWave by removing the time and cost required to obtain a waiver from the FCC.[1] In the FCC’s proposal, they outline three general applications for mmWave: