Slashdot Mirror
NTT's Cool - Human Area Networking Technology
kvsnut writes "I4U is reporting about NTT's research project
called RedTacton - It 'safely
turns the surface of the human body into a data transmission path at speeds up
to 10 Mbps between any two points on the body.' There is a pretty interesting site (uses flash) setup to showcase the technology.
If you want to jump to a non-flash overview, try here. It be cool if I could sync my Treo (I'm
saving for) by just touching a cradle (or heck the PC)."
Damn. I've always wanted to copy and paste between computers. This could be a dream come true for people that have to work on a large number of computers for a short amount of time...
I see immediate applications for this technology -- we need to bring back Hands Across America to create the information superhighway of the 21st century!
- - - - - Fear not the reaper, but my shiny white teeth.
You would never be able to use the excuse that you lost her phone number after a one night stand.
I say boo! to this on behalf of my fellow man...
seeing this is slashdot though and the chance of a one night stand is * 0 bring it on!
"A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'" - DNA
Isn't this a bit more trouble than it's worth? After all, how hard is it to plug something in to a USB slot?
Le français vous intéresse?
What's the point beyond the coolness factor? Palm devices can already sync via 802.11b or Bluetooth. Wireless technologies can already go faster than 10 mbps, and are cheap and well-tested. If we can transmit data through the air, why do we need to transmit it through our bodies?
Damm... just one more thing I have to worry about.
So basically if you were holding something in your hand that was using this technology, simply be touching a receptor you can transfer data to it? You know some sick bastard is going to go around using his wing wong as a contact point.
Incidentally NTT requests that the press refer to the technology's dermatological side effects as "a healthy tan!" rather than "cooking"
No where in the article does it claim to "cool"
That's interesting, but what the hell does it have to do with Human Area Networking?
"No honey, you're not fat, you just have lots of bandwidth!"
Soylent Green is peoplicious!
skan, skin area network:)
Very Sci-fi.
What do you call a Human Area Network that's by itself? HAN SOLO!
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
... we're putting together a local area network!
Think of what we can now do with Electronic porn...
Who would want this? -t http://www.scrapbookingdirect.com/
http://domino.research.ibm.com/Comm/bios.nsf/pages /pan.html
From 1997 at IBM
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
in a static spark?
-Use 220V power sources only!
-System WILL NOT function properly if flyback transformer output is BELOW 500 KV.
-If bleeding from the ears or urinary tract occurs during use, consult medical assistance immediately.
-DO NOT use in bathtub, shower, or rain.
-Conditions of high humidity should be avoided as electrical arcing may occur between peripheral devices on user.
-People with braces or a pacemaker should refrain from use of this product.
-ubuntu others as you would have others ubuntu you.
All this stuff going through your body can't be good. Got milk? Nope. But I got cancer! Yay!
The real drive behind this is the usage for mobile phones. Here in Japan, mobile phones have become the dominant data handling device. Phones here have the full rolodex, appointment calendar, mp3 player, as well as Final Fantasy/Tetris/CowboyNeal game-of-choice. There are adapters coming online now that will let people browse MSWord and Excel files via their mobile.
But the drive here is a great social need: when groups go out to dinner, friends, co-workers, business partners, etc. there is always this 10-minute ritual where everyone has to call everyone else in the group, in order to capture their phone number and contact information. If NTT can issue phones where everyone trades this information by touching hands, then they have an edge over the others.
Japanese protect their privacy vehemently, but are also information hoarders much greater than their US or EU equivalents. Phone rolodexes are huge-- people have every contact they met in the last 4 years (which is in the thousands if you work in Tokyo).
davejenkins.com |
pr0n. After 10,000 years of leading technological innovation, they finally have a way to deliver it directly where it matters....
Could our PDAs swap business cards via a handshake? What will come next? VIRUSES?
Oh shit! I forgot to click "Post Anonymously"...
Tell me they don't attach the contacts to the testacles?
In their situation it would hardly hurt anything to go to an hour-old backup. Sounds like a poor backup strategy rather than some kind of database error.
Btw, all of us idiots out here that have been using MySQL happily for years still aren't falling for the chicken little routine. The only time ACID is more than a luxury is when you can't afford to lose and hour or so of updates. In the real world (i.e., where screw ups happen all the time and the solutions are messy) not many applications need that kind of setup. Talk finance and stock markets all you want, but you're still talking the upper 10%. Who are using Oracle and whatnot anyway.
Possibly for security. Anyone in range can recieve your wireless transmissions. With this, someone or something would have to be touching you to get any of that data. See their site for a couple of suggestions.
I have to wonder if these patents will have a chilling effect on their ability to compete in the marketplace.
This is so unfair. Cool-humans get everything. I knew I should have played football in highschool. And showered.
for "Liberty" and "Patriotic duty" all you have to do it touch the programmer. every morning...
Enjoy Every Sandwich
"Does this network make my area look wide?"
I think this would be a good thing, since this technique would make it feasible to interface your 'preferences' (stored on a wearable computer) to various electronic or smart gadgets (a smart car/house/etc) so that as soon as you touch it, then the smart gadget is customized to you.
I suppose a simple application, would be if all cars supported this, then as soon as you touched the door latch then: 1) The car door would open, since the car verified who you were. 2) The seat would adjust to your body height 3) The radio would automatically tune itself to your preferences 4) Your playlists would be imported into the radio.
Your preferences can be stored in something relatively small. For example your watch can have this technology and it transmit your preferences to whatever smart gadget you touched.
What would really be neat, is if there were some method of biofeedback so that you could configure your preferences by 'thinking about it'. At that point, we would have something similar to the "Ancient's 'Automated' Technology" as shown on StarGate: Atlantis tv show.
Once, smoking cigarettes was considered 'safe'. Putting radio waves thru the human body is never a great idea.
HAN synced first?
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." --H.L. Mencken
Just imagine a beowulf cluster of people!
True all we have is bandwidth, but this is starting to cross the line between people and computers. If we learn a way to interface with the human brain through this system then the skys the limit!
"Anything is possible with enough programmers, time and pizza." (Substitute caffeine for time as needed.)
TechWorld.com has a fairly detailed article on RedTacton, in which it says this about the concern of electric shocks: "The transceivers, which require a PCMCIA card to connect with an electronic device, use several hundred milliwatts of power and are insulated to avoid electric shocks. As with many items of household electrical equipment, like TVs and kettles, the transceivers do emit very weak electromagnetic fields, but the levels are in compliance with guidelines issued by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, NTT said." Interesting Read. I have the link to the article on my blog at: http://sundroid.blogspot.com/.
Sun and Fun
This would probably be great for one's own devices (cell, palm) but using it for auths exposes the toucher to a variety of diseases, especially from public interfaces. People would probably be loathe to use this to pay for something, if they have to touch a contact point that's been touched by everyone before them.
Also, there's the possibility that someone could pick up your auth sig from a handrail or doorknob or something... unless you have to enable the auth for something like the next transaction, or the next x seconds, or key in some kind of id that indicates which touch is authorized. That adds a level of complexity that defeats the whole point of the touch interface.
this isn't a sig. i type this (including the two dashes), every time i post, just to make it look like a sig.
"That's a PAN card."
"Personal Area Network, huh..."
"It's powered by the body's own electrical field. It transmits data using the salts in the body as a transmission medium..."
The biggest market I see for this (other than the obvious marketing/spy novel stuff) is user authentication. People like myself fear bioauthentication because, well if someone steals your identity, you are pretty much boned.
With this system, you can have a separate heavily encrypted key for each device you touch, and it can be changed if the need arises.
Death to all passwords!
You could know who entered each and every keystroke!
Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
So now everytime my dog humps my leg, I have to do a full system check to make sure he didn't copy a DRM file from me...
So how long until I can purchase a Human Area Networking Device?
Bring on the sex jokes now...
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?
"Get birth control kill pill"
She's not a virgin?
Didn't Microsoft already patent something similar?
Microsoft Patents The Human Body As A Network Bus
I can already hear the Tech Support calls...
Support: "Hello?"
Customer: "I'm having some trouble with my HAN. It's constantly dropping packets!"
Support: "Well, what are you downloading?"
Customer: "Would you believe me if I said 15GB of Lesbian videos?"
Support: "Please hold."
my penis.
Seems to me that the obvious entry point is a new wireless optical mouse with this built in. Then you could buy (or it ships with) a memory unit that the user wears. Poof, instant computer usage...secure password storage, configuration data, small files of any kind.
My two questions are:
1) can I do a multidrop connection. There is precious little detail about whether my cell phone, pda, mp3 player, watch, HUD (hey I can dream) all play together seamlessly. If so this will kick so much ass.
2) IIRC the field surrounding the human body is fairly unique to each person...can it be used as part of a biometric system through such a device. This seems kind of unlikely, but would be an interesting low security id system.
..."flesh light". [shivers at the thought of what people will use to network with]
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
As an added feature, it delivers 500 volts to the approprive area when watching "Paris Hilton Live!"
And we wonder way cancer is so rampant.
Join Tor today!
about my fat pipe?
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
Yes, when you put on your tinfoil hat, it will spark a little. This is normal operation.
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
Someone else mentioned the Microsoft patent.
The interesting thing about Microsft's patent is that it includes power, not just data.
Larry
I wonder if something like this could be tapped through clothing, by standing next to someone or simply shaking hands with someone. I would be very nervous using this to transmit vital information.
8==8 Bones 8==8
...you may have a virus or worm?
I wear gloves, because safe networking is the only way to go.
I would not be surprised if this requires significantly less power than a wireless solution for its given amount of bandwidth.
Also, this technology would give new meaning to the term "handshake."
+++ATH0
Was I the only one who misread that as:
There is a pretty interesting site (uses flesh)
the testicular cross-talk! Ouch!
Pretty cool, until all users mysteriously die from some new form of cancer .... :)
This made me think me and a few friends could possibly slashdot a server just by touching it, and that made me laugh evilly?
"Each time you smile, it'll only last awhile. Life may be scary, but it's only temporary."
1.2 km with Antenna. So someone around you in 1.2 km zone could be getting the data.
Most people don't know this. 100 metres in any direction someone can be linked in with out being targeted.
Heck you can have a lot of fun Bluetooth jamming.
At least this new tech reduces range.
Wow, this gives the Man In The Middle attack a whole new meaning!
Now we just have to worry about people running past to touch you, in order to steal the photographs off your camera, or whatever.
infringe the photos off your camera
Ever played with one of those toys that activate when you put them on the palm of your hand? This is the same concept. I was able to get twenty people to link up by holding hands, then activate said toy through twenty people. That said, it also works if you're barefoot on tiles. Yes, the current travels through the ground.
So, do we have to wear shoes to make sure we leak any data?
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
and carry it with me?
:-)
like my daddy did?
if you dont get it, listen to some jim croche and come back
"goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
... to have cyber sex.
Hey baby, howabout you get a few of your friends and we go make ourselves a beowulf cluster in my room.
Better get some viagra. It looks like your network is down.
I'm hot swappable!
I can see the transcript from divorce court now;
According to your server logs, at 1:15-1:48 AM you were connected and then not connected and then connected and then not connected and then connected and then not connected and then connected and then not connected and then connected and then not connected and then connected and then not connected and then connected... 245 times... Playing patty cake, were we?
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Has anyone seen the movie Fallen?
picking up a phone at your neighbor's house and having your entire address book available, or previous CID info.
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
So, I don't get it... most humans I know only have 2 hands (that is, unless you come from New Jersey and played in the waste dumps as a kid)... So, if you're using your body to transmit a network signal, then HOW are you going to type, use the mouse, and operate your computer? Unless THIS is the reason they've been pushing all those VIAGRA spams recently :P) ( ...or we all take off our shoes and use our feet for networking so we can have our hands free for typing... Am I the only one who sees this problem???
How do they know it's safe? Because they haven't done any tests to show it isn't safe? Because it doesn't fry their armhairs? Maybe it is safe, but why should we trust the vendors of the tech, who have no accountability, to say it is safe? We're just finding out about cellphones now, we've just started to find out about electrical fields and bone/cytoplasm growth, because all the vendors through history have said "it's safe", without testing.
--
make install -not war
One fairly serious human limitation is the speed of nerve signals. There's about a 100 ms lag between the brain and the hand, longer for the feet.
Not that that's not adequate for everyday life, but if the nerves could somehow be rewired to use this channel instead, reaction times could be seriously lowered with very interesting consequences in several different fields, such as sport, combat, driving or any other physical activity where speed matters.
I realize this will not happen tomorrow, but OTOH I can't think of any fundamental reason that it's impossible.
This is a great way to pass data very secretly. All you'd need to do is touch someone and you transfer 10Mb/s.
10Kb/s is plenty for secret messages.. and you have 2^10 times more than that to play with.
Perfect for secret corporate data transfers (trading secret info), spy data, insider stock tips, trading public keys (or even one-time pads), or many other interesting "walk near me" data transfers.
So does this mean you can now download files while touching the hairless breasts?
while I whip my dongle out.
sex could be fun, procreative, and a social networking device! wait.... it already is... well at least you could play a game of counterstrike mid-coitus... a network cable is unplugged local area connection established a network cable is unplugged local area connection established a network cable is unplugged local area connection established a network cable is unplugged local area connection established
I see court cases soon where people were unknowingly used for their bandwidth. Brings new meaning to the phrase "network backbone".
Definite candidate for most exciting new product photo:
- 3.jpg
http://www.redtacton.com/en/prototype/images/pic1
Brings new meaning to the term "meatport," doesn't it?
insightful.
See Intrabody Signalling from the MIT media lab.
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
I'm just waiting till I can buy my new HAN watch with all my environmental preferences and ssh key hash. I'm imagining sitting at any computer and as soon as my hands touch the keyboard, it configures it the way I like it. Heck, at 10mbps, given sufficiently small storage, My hands could touch the keyboard and it could connect to the PC on my wrist for all the data and programs I take with me all the time. PC terminals will replace desktop PCs and even laptops. The PC becomes truely personal, something you don't even notice you're wearing until you need it. Daddy likes.
Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
My is that a big antenna, or are you just pleased to see me?
;-), not checked to see if someone else posted, but hey ho.
Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
Well, this could also be used (with a set of good protocols) as a method of communication between your headset and phone. Or from your monkey-chip-emplanted brain to your limbs. Maybe this could be the ultimate coming-of-age for wearable computing communication.
garble
... that you can get a virus by just shaking hands!
Sorry, I can remember reading about a patent filed years ago that did this exact thing. One of the ideas behind it was that if you had a PDA type device, you could exchange phone numbers/buisness cards etc. just by shaking hands. I am not sure of my exact source, but a quick google search turned up this published Oct. 1996.
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
So what are we trying to achieve here? As soon as I touch my GF---the webcam starts up automatically ?
I knew it wasn't old technology :)
In time with development the human brain could be used as a massive data storage device for PC information. You could have fingerprint recognition on the PC itself and then download/upload vast amounts of information. All someone would have to do is touch you (easilydone in a crowded place) and give you a virus, take private inforamtion, or assimilate you like the borg... Resistance is futile... Here is an old link about Microsoft who already patented this technology... http://www.betanews.com/article/1088039192 Sorry, you'll have to copy and paste...
has a whole ne sense now :)
Funny, it looks like the "Fall of Hyperion" plot, in which humans are nothing but network relays. What are the odds that NTT guys have read the book ?
Excellent, a new way for us suits to make tech support's life a misery. Suit: Er ... is that the computer thingy department
Underpaid Tech: Yes ... what now?
Suit: My LAN is down could you lot come up to my office, strip naked and lie on the ground holding each others' ankles so I can sync my PDA with Outlook.
MWAHAHAHAHAHA
No, some of them are not peer-reviewed, they're inconclusive but they're still food for thought.
- Radiation20jun02.htm
e en_mobile_phones/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4113989.stm
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/2002/Mobile-Phone
http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/11/08/link_betw
http://www.microwavenews.com/clearerpicture.html
http://www.emrnetwork.org/schools/macopinion.htm
It's the year of Linux! To celebrate I have x free hotmail accounts to give away
now if we all join hands will we have INTERNET2?
The truth about Led Zep should never be told on
I thought there was an article several months ago that stated that Microsoft had been awarded a patent for transmitting data signals through the body? Am I wrong?
Hmm, next time you're near an oscilloscope, try touching your finger to the input. Inspect the signal. Should be about 2 volts of 60 cycle hum, with maybe 10% ragged noise superimposed. Raise your other hand toward the ceiling lights-- the voltage should go up to maybe five volts of raggedy hash. Now touch something grounded-- the voltage should go down to maybe a tenth of a volt, now mostly high-frequency hash. It's unlikely your body is going to make a good data path. Ungrounded, it's a walking antenna for all kind of noise. Grounded, it's a pretty good short to ground. These folks are trying to make filet-mignon out of road-kill-- not very likely to succeed.
This sounds like a good way to implement electronic keys for everything. Think of putting some small device on a neck lanyard or anywhere out of the way (as long as it touches skin) and using that for a key. Touch your car, it unlocks. Touch your PC and it logs in. No more dropping security badges or car keys when trying to get in!
AB HOC POSSUM VIDERE DOMUM TUUM
And you thought that guy was just trying to feel you up.
Hmph..
Smile.
How about some worker that comes in the office to drop-off some sensitive data that he collected on the field, and just takes his Handheld in his hand, puts his finger on fingerprint reader and after authorization transfers his data into the system and get new data on Handheld from mainframe with one simple "touch of a fingerprint-reader button".
No cards, no IDs, no security holes, just connect and transfer. Fingerprint is your password and body is your medium. Now this is what I call the future.
... but if you read through the site, alot of the "suggested applications" seem to assume that the little "mobile device" you have on you stores an awful lot of personal information. Sitting down on a plane and it knows whether or not you're in the right seat? Reaching for medecine and an alarm going off because you grabbed the wrong one?
It better be damned well encrypted, because I don't want to sit down on a park bench and suddenly the guy beside me knows exactly who I am and has access boatload of my personal information.
Now, this is less of an issue if, say, my medicine bottles know that "Antyrael" not supposed to be using them, and my "portable device" just says "Hi, I'm Antyrael, what's up?", but that really doesn't sound feasable.
So, I guess what I'm (long-windedly) saying here, is yes; these devices could certainly, shall we say, usher in a new "era" of secure authentication, since only your personal device activates your stuff. But, done wrong (and there are many ways this could be done horribly wrong), this could also spawn greater security risks than ever before.
And what if someone STEALS your personal unit? Suddenly they can authorize themselves as you just by touching a doorknob/mouse/whatever? I shudder at the thought.
</paranoia>Expectations are for the unprepared.
there are any products out there that actually make use of "micro" 802.11 though, are there?
The idea of this system seems to me to be like a "fast Bluetooth." 802.11 doesn't really lend itself to that kind of usage.
+++ATH0
Combine this with an expensive flash memory implant hidden somewhere cosy inside you : got yourself a nice courrier. Johnny Mnemonic style, woohoo! And they said it couldn't be done .....
without your knowledge. You could be a walking Tag with the details of your entire day, just picked up from the different door handles(as show on the site).
walking home you touch the subway and BAM the information is sent to the secret government labs
Check journal for info on Anti-TextBook, an idea by me.
She is her own MAN.
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
Just think, you may not catch AIDS from shaking hands, but now you can catch SOBIG from it!
hmmmm...i wonder if it could be used for mood
disorders.
With a little filtering, you can pretty easily find a frequency band where the noise floor is adequately low. And if noise is still a problem, use code modulation (ala CDMA). For long enough codes, it give very good noise immunity and you can slap an error-correcting code on top of that. Then there's all that stuff in the TCP protocol. Noticing and fixing flipped bits is a pretty thoroughly studied problem.
WWJD for a Klondike Bar?
yikes!
Is there a static storage capacity?
So now would hacking into your network be considered assault?
May I dock my Treo in your cradle?
Do you mind if I put my mouse on your palm?
Can I plug my peripheral into your box?
etc. etc.
"a data transmission path at speeds up to 10 Mbps between any two points on the body"
Just show me Paris Hilton's picture...
Or Angelina Jolie...
Or Sharon Corr...
Or...
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
if you get infected by a worm you can actually feel your skin crawl
The next entry-level job you'll see listed on monster: Be our file server. Job Requirements: All you have to do is hold a hard drive and touch the switch.
James Bond style hacking of the mainframe through the security guard.. I can see the headlines now "Defcon gets raised during Senate hearing".. Ok ok, bad joke. 8-|