New materials will be as important to next generation connected experiences as new network technologies, enabling a new generation of devices and equipment that could fulfil the ‘metaverse’ dream of absolutely ubiquitous connectivity and AI-based responsesiveness. The Japanese mobile ecosystem is often in the forefront of developments that borrow from materials science as well as radio engineering. Kyocera and NEC, for instance, have been pioneers in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS – see below), and now the country’s largest mobile operator, NTT Docomo, has revealed a project related to windows that do not obstruct radio waves. The operator is working with window glass specialist YKK AP on a light, porous aerogel material that would allow radio waves to penetrate more easily…