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Microsoft Patents The Body Bus
Mz6 writes "Microsoft has been awarded a patent for using
human skin as a power conduit and data bus. Patent No.
6,754,472, which was published Tuesday, describes a method for transmitting power and data to devices worn on the body and for communication of data between those devices. In its filing, Microsoft cites the proliferation of wearable electronic devices, such as wristwatches, pagers, PDAs (worn on people's belts) and small displays that can now be mounted on headgear. "As a result of carrying multiple portable electronic devices, there is often a significant amount of redundancy in terms of input/output devices included in the portable devices used by a single person," says the filing. "For example, a watch, pager, PDA and radio may all include a speaker." To reduce the redundancy of input/output devices, Microsoft's patent proposes a personal area network that allows a single data input or output device to be used by multiple portable devices." (What about DoCoMo's research in this area?)
This is a physical device and if there is no prior art then I think this is a very valid patent.
My gut feeling is:
Under construction: swpat politics overview article
So I guess this might ultimately allow the transfer of data literally through a handshake ...
would anyone have any objections to this patent? This patent covers a physical device made of atoms just like 100% of all patents applied for 100 years ago. I do nto agree with sofwtare patents but I do with patents covering physical devices.
has violated this patent. Plus the old experiment in school, where the whole class holds hands in a string, and the person on each end each touches one lobe of a Van Der Graff generator. Everyone's hair rises, and whoever breaks the circuit gets the shock - but there was a circuit and power was being delivered, it was even doing work.
Here's the problem:
Patents are being awarded for spending a little time thinking. For having the luxury of free time to think, and company lawyers to file, companies are able to establish themselves as a gatekeeper.
Patents should be the product of effort - they were meant to reward that effort, and incent you to expend that amount of effort again in the future.
IMHO, these 'few hours of thought' patents are diametrically opposed to the concept of patents as enumerated in the Constitution.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Borg coments aside, I'd love to see this work. Turning the human skin into a data path has wonderful medical applications. Imagine being able to monitor pacemakers, hearing aids, and other prosthetic devices non-invasively.
Furthermore, this could open up the prospect of "implants" to help humans with different things. If Microsoft can really get data and power running through the human body, it could really usher in a new age of computing.
They aren't patenting PANs, they are patenting a particular method of implementing a PAN. Nice try at MS bashing though.
Various forms of hearing aids have used this idea for several years. For people with hearing in one ear, you can 'transmit' the sound from the deaf ear to the working ear.
--bryan
IMAO becouse IANAL some of this may not apply.
Skin networking research at MIT
The diffrence between MITs prior art and Microsofts patent is the power distrabution.
But.. DU.. the data is electrical... power distrabution is an implied part of that.
Any time you have a reliable electrical signal you have a power source.
Basicly Microsofts patent is a minnor and obveous modification of an existing patent and as I understand it patenting the obveous is not permitted.
I don't actually exist.