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Microsoft Patents The Body Bus

Posted by timothy on from the wait-for-service-pack-2 dept.

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?)

6 of 508 comments (clear)

  1. This might be valid by Woodrow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a physical device and if there is no prior art then I think this is a very valid patent.

    1. Re:This might be valid by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 4, Insightful
      No prior art? You might want to read the spec for ieee488 bus.

      Is it not a requirement for US patents to be non-obvious as well?

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  2. Handshaking by nucal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So I guess this might ultimately allow the transfer of data literally through a handshake ...

  3. Awesome by isd_glory · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  4. Re:good luck MS by kakos · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They aren't patenting PANs, they are patenting a particular method of implementing a PAN. Nice try at MS bashing though.

  5. This isn't a new idea.... by bryanc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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