Redtacton

What is RedTacton?

RedTacton is a technology that bridges the last networking gap, creating the HAN - Human Area Network, connecting the last meter. It works by utilizing the electric field on the surface of the human body to transmit data between a RedTacton receiver and other devices. Data can be transmitted at up to 10 mbps. According to Technology Review, the "transceiver combines an optical receiver circuit equipped with a super-sensitive photonic electrical field sensor and a crystal to transmit data."

Currently, RedTacton is gearing up to compete with Bluetooth, Zigbee, IrDA (infrared data association), UWB (ultra wide band), and other wireless communication forms. These competing technologies are different in that they use radio frequency or light to transmit data short distances. They also tend to work at slower speeds that RedTacton which, as mentioned before, uses the body's electrical field to transmit at a high speed. Additionally, since RedTacton requires touch and has a low potential for interference, it it much more secure than the competition.

NTT, the developer of RedTacton, has recently begun to try and commercialize the technology. As reported on Gizmodo (02/25/2008), the technology is currently being marketed as a way to turn a human into a swipe card. Instead of carrying access cards or wearing a wireless device, people would wear their RedTacton device and touch the doors or filing cabinets or other objects which would receive the security clearance from the device. It would be more secure than traditional swipe cards, keys, or wireless signals.

What does it do?

When using a RedTacton device, the human body effectively becomes an Ethernet cable, so the body can use its electrical field to connect devices to networks or the internet. For example, if a person wearing a RedTacton device sat at a table with RedTacton capabilities that was connected to the Internet, the laptop would immediately be connected to the internet. While on the surface this seems similar to a wireless network connection, it is not. There is a physical connection, the person. Also, the connection is more secure and does not slow down if many people are using the same connection, as a wireless connection does. --More--

How is it useful?

Many areas can benefit from this technology. Initially, RedTacton could target security, the medical field, and the device communicatio...