One big constriant on wireless electronics is the antenna. It
has to be made of metal and it has to be a certain size. On top
of thating touch one can create a short circuit, drastically
reducing its efficiency. (This is why iPhone 4 owners has
problems with the "death grip" last year). Soldiers carrying
radio equipment often have to contend with traditional whip
antennas that are cumbersome in the best of times. However,
there may finally be a way around this: sew the antenna into
clothing. The idea of incorporating electronics into clothing
isn't new, but a team at Ohio State University has found a way
to make it work much more efficiently. Previously the problem
was that a wearable antenna would sometimes touch a person's
skin, or the wearer would walk into a building and turn away
from the source of the strongest signal. But Chih-Chih Chen, a
research associate professor and a co-author of the research,
says by integrating a control device with the antenna (and
stitching the threads so they are on differe