Human body LAN

http://www.technologyreview.com

This month, NTT Labs, the research and development wing of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, plans to start conducting field trials for a radical new "human area networking" technology called RedTactont that uses the naturally-occurring electrical fields of human skin to transmit data

The slim, PCMCIA-based RedTacton transceiver combines a an optical receiver circuit equipped with a super-sensitive photonic electrical field sensor and a crystal to transmit data over the surface of human body at up to 10 megabits per second between wearable devices.

Although some potential customers might balk at the idea of their bodies being lit up like a Christmas tree, Sakamoto claims the system is completely safe because no current flows into the body. He also says that the signal integrity is invulnerable to rain, cold, heat, static electricity, or electrical storms.

The small transceiver fits comfortably in a shirt pocket and unlike previous systems does not require a direct connection to the skin. The prototype can communicate at 10Mbps with other transceivers on the body, for example, mediating transmission between an MP3 player and a headset, and Sakamoto says it will soon shrink to the size where it can be built-into cell phones and other devices. When connecting beyond the body, the electric field can travel through conductors and dialectrics at a distance ranging from centimeters to meters, depending on the level of conductivity.

NTT is particularly enthusiastic about touch-based personalization applications. For example, the act of sitting in your car seat could instruct seats and mirrors to adjust accordingly or picking up a shared cell phone would instantly make it yours. NTT also envisions touch-based interactive advertising that customizes itself to an individual's profile or smart medicine bottles that would sound an alarm if you try to take the wrong pill.

Before the technology goes commercial, Sakamoto says, it will probably first be integrated into security applications. Because RedTacton avoids wireless snooping, touch-based purchases would be private and provide authentication to vendors, allowing people to do things such unlocking a door simply by touching the knob.

You do not have to take your ID card from your pocket," says Sakamoto. "Just touching or walking with your PDA in your pocket is enough for authentication."

Some people will be highly attracted to the idea of using their bodies as networks, and new applications could flourish. Yet psychological barriers could prove a problem with many users. Even if convinced of the device's safety, some might worry about privacy or theft from accidental physical contact. With proper security, these are not serious problems, yet some users might also feel a vague sense of violation of their personal space.

Sakamoto argues that we have overcome such psychological barriers many times in the past.

"If the user benefit is much larger than their concerns, people will start to use it," he says. "This is exactly what happened to cell phones."

Ok, little question. Am I the only one that reads this and is vaguely reminded of the PAN Cards from Metal Gear Solid?