Tech Shout!

Researchers at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) have developed a way of utilising the human body as a high-speed network and connecting people to electronic devices.

With the human body playing the role of a conduit, the viable Human Area Network (HAN) device can manage rapid data transfer between devices. It uses transceivers, called RedTactons, on the surface of the body as a transmission path. RedTacton makes use of weak electric fields on the surface of the human body, instead of using electromagnetic waves or light waves to carry data.

So far the engineers have managed to transmit data at 2Mbps. In order to work with the data on the body, RedTacton-enabled devices have to be within about 20cm of the skin.

The technology, which will hit the shops next year, is being regarded as an alternative to Bluetooth or WLAN technologies for very short range, high-speed communications.

According to the India Times, it will be likely that data can be exchanged with another person carrying a sensor by shaking hands. One can also activate a device, and transmit data to it by touching it, walking on it or by sitting on it.