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LAN
Peripheral computers
Wearable computers
Insulation film
Transmitter
Transmitter
circuit
Human body
Data sense
Interface
Control signal
circuit
PDA Receiver
Transmitting/receiving
electrode
3. RedTacton transceiver
tions on the person’s body. We also verified that good Some representative applications of RedTacton are
communication was achieved not only when the elec- shown in Fig. 5. Figure 5(a) illustrates communica-
trodes were in direct contact with the person’s skin, tion between mobile electronic devices on one per-
but also when the signals passed through clothing and son. In this case, the person is listening to music from
shoes. a portable audio device through earphones. Instead of
a physical cord tethering the two devices, the data is
4. Human safety passed through the person’s body. Similarly, one
could envision a worker wearing a head-mounted dis-
We investigated the effects of RedTacton technolo- play performing a complex task based on instructions
gy on human health, which is obviously an important delivered through his body from a pocket-sized com-
issue. First, as shown in Fig. 3, the transmitting and puter. Figure 5(b) shows communication between
receiving electrodes of the RedTacton transceiver are devices on different people, enabling them to
completely covered with insulating film, so the body exchange electronic business cards by shaking hands.
of the person acting as the transmission medium is Figure 5(c) illustrates communication between an
completely insulated. This makes it impossible for electronic device on a person and one embedded in
current to flow into a person’s body from the trans- the environment. One can easily think of a wide vari-
ceiver. ety of applications of this type. For example, a person
When communication occurs, displacement current might carry a PDA that transmits an ID or a simple
is generated by the electrons in the body because the script (computer program) to a device embedded in
body is subjected to minute electrical fields. Howev- the environment. Then, when the person briefly
er, such displacement currents are very common touches the system or simply walks through a gate,
everyday occurrences to which we are all subjected. the transmission could trigger various kinds of action
RedTacton conforms to the “Radio Frequency-Expo- such as opening the gate or assessing the toll or
sure Protection Standard (RCR STD-38)” [6] issued charge. A natural gesture such as turning a knob to
by the Association of Radio Industries and Business- open a door could enable identification and authenti-
es (ARIB). The levels produced by RedTacton are cation of the person seeking admission. Figure 5(d)
well below the safety limit specified by this standard. shows a museum setting where a visitor can hear a
detailed description of an object from an audio device
5. Applications embedded nearby by touching the object or simply by
standing in front of the object. And finally, Fig. 5(e)
In this section we highlight three distinctive fea- illustrates a system where a metal surface acts as the
tures of RedTacton. First, a transmission path is conductor of electric fields instead of a human body.
formed automatically by body contact and this initi- A conductive metal sheet is placed on top of a table,
ates communication between electronic devices. A and a conferencing system is created simply by plac-
device can be started, information can be obtained, or ing devices on it. Laptop computers could be con-
various services can be triggered by a wide range of nected to the Internet by simply placing them on such
natural human actions such as grasping, sitting down, a table. Even different networks could be supported,
walking, or standing in a particular place. Second, the such as an enterprise LAN (local area network) and
communication is interactive and broadband. In con- Internet access, by providing separate metal sheets
trast to RFID (radio frequency identification), which for each network.
is only capable of one-way transmission of short ID
messages, RedTacton supports two-way exchange of 6. Conclusion
large amounts of data between portable electronic
devices. In contrast to conventional wireless systems, RedTacton is an exciting new technology for human
RedTacton provides an independent transmission area networking. We have developed a transceiver
path for each individual person (that is, for each con- that uses the human body as a data transmission
ductor) even in congested places, so it provides very medium based on an electric-field sensor that uses an
secure, fast communication without any interference. electro-optic crystal and laser light. Using this trans-
Third, almost anything that acts as a conductor—a ceiver, we succeeded in achieving 10BASE commu-
human or animal body, water, metal, etc.—can serve nication in accordance with IEEE 802.3 through a
as a RedTacton transmission path. This means that human body from one hand to the other hand.
there is no need for a dedicated cable or antenna. While our immediate objective is to implement a
Simply
walk through. PDA
(a) Communication between (b) Communication between devices (c) Communication from a device on a
devices on the same person on different people (exchange of person to a device embedded in
(portable audio) business card data) the environment (gateway system)
LAN
Internet
Hear music or a description
by standing
in front of an exhibit.
Links are divided into
intranet and Internet access.