diff --git a/include/dynamic-graph/signal-caster.h b/include/dynamic-graph/signal-caster.h
index 8a4ea47b4417740d9de8d998259e9d3e77de1ffe..41f5a8a73c3e7c59c446e6abb9bab13103bfdbe1 100644
--- a/include/dynamic-graph/signal-caster.h
+++ b/include/dynamic-graph/signal-caster.h
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ private:
 /// The library-wide instance of SignalCaster
 extern DYNAMICGRAPH_EXPORT SignalCaster g_caster;
 
-/*
+/*!
  * The SignalCast registerer class. Can be used to automatically register a cast when
  * instanced somewhere in a cpp file. Pass the typeid() of the type you want to
  * register a cast to as the first argument.
@@ -80,6 +80,17 @@ public:
 	}
 };
 
+/*! This class can be used to register default casts, i.e. casts already supported by
+ *  the object to an std::iostream through the operators >> and << .
+ */
+template<typename T> class DefaultCastRegisterer : public SignalCastRegisterer {
+public:
+	DefaultCastRegisterer() : SignalCastRegisterer(typeid(T), disp, cast, trace) {}
+	static boost::any cast(std::istringstream& iss) { T inst; iss >> inst; return inst; }
+	static void disp(const boost::any& object, std::ostream& os) { os << boost::any_cast<T>(object) << std::endl;; }
+	static void trace(const boost::any& object, std::ostream& os) { disp(object,os); }
+};
+
 /*!
  * Global signal cast template (helper) functions
  *
diff --git a/src/signal/signal-caster.cpp b/src/signal/signal-caster.cpp
index a05a1bf7640f14c45600e8740261a785380e14ee..1f748ff1824f372eecfa161adbbc632fa4373a13 100644
--- a/src/signal/signal-caster.cpp
+++ b/src/signal/signal-caster.cpp
@@ -76,15 +76,6 @@ any SignalCaster::cast(const type_info& type, istringstream& iss) {
 /// The global instance of the caster class.
 SignalCaster g_caster;
 
-/// Default casts, such as casts already supported by std::iostream
-template<typename T> class DefaultCastRegisterer : public SignalCastRegisterer {
-public:
-	DefaultCastRegisterer() : SignalCastRegisterer(typeid(T), disp, cast, trace) {}
-	static boost::any cast(istringstream& iss) { T inst; iss >> inst; return inst; }
-	static void disp(const any& object, ostream& os) { os << any_cast<T>(object) << endl;; }
-	static void trace(const any& object, ostream& os) { disp(object,os); }
-};
-
 /// Registers useful casts
 namespace {
 	DefaultCastRegisterer<double> double_reg;
diff --git a/unitTesting/test_signalcast.cpp b/unitTesting/test_signalcast.cpp
index ff828358826f17e4270dd8d7bcb9f04266e11687..1d1e949f389bca690b26653aea435bf755174af2 100644
--- a/unitTesting/test_signalcast.cpp
+++ b/unitTesting/test_signalcast.cpp
@@ -25,19 +25,34 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <cstdlib>
+#include <memory>
 
 #include <dynamic-graph/factory.h>
 #include <dynamic-graph/entity.h>
 #include <dynamic-graph/debug.h>
 #include <dynamic-graph/pool.h>
 #include <dynamic-graph/signal.h>
-
-#include <memory>
+// only included because we will define new casts here. Not needed in general.
+#include <dynamic-graph/signal-caster.h>
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace dynamicgraph;
 
+// define a new cast with a ublas vector
+#include <boost/numeric/ublas/vector.hpp>
+// this header is *needed* to define iostream& operators << and >> for a ublas vector
+#include <boost/numeric/ublas/io.hpp>
+typedef boost::numeric::ublas::vector<double> Vector;
+// define a new cast with a type that supports streaming operators to and from it
+// (this could be automated with macros)
+namespace {
+	DefaultCastRegisterer<bool> myBooleanCast;
+	DefaultCastRegisterer<Vector> myVectorCast;
+}
+
 int main() {
+	using namespace boost::numeric::ublas;
+
 	Signal<double, int> mySignal("out");
 	istringstream value("42.0");
 	cout << "[cast] Setting signal value to " << value.str() << endl;
@@ -47,5 +62,21 @@ int main() {
 	cout << "[trace] Printing out trace: ";
 	mySignal.trace(cout);
 
+
+	Signal<Vector, int> myVectorSignal("vector");
+	// print out signal name
+	cout << "  " << myVectorSignal << endl;
+
+	cout << "[disp] Enumerating boost unit vectors" << endl;
+	for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++ i) {
+		unit_vector<double> v (5, i);
+		myVectorSignal.setConstant(v);
+		// print out signal value
+		cout << "  ";
+		myVectorSignal.get(cout);
+		cout << endl;
+	}
+
+
 	return 0;
 }