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ABSTRACT

RedTacton is a new Human Area Networking technology that uses the surface of the human body as a safe, high speed network transmission path. The name "Tacton" has originated, as the technology involves touch and action. the world "red" indicates warm and cordial communications. Red Tacton does not rely on electromagnetic or light waves to transmit data. It makes use of weak electric fields on the surface of the body. The weak electric fields travel through the body to a Red Tacton receiver. Red Tacton transceivers use an optical sensor to detect fluctuations in the electric field of the human body. These transceivers also include a mini laser and a crystal. There are certain objects like plastics, glass, ceramics, liquids and metals, which possess a weak electric field around them and are a source for such communication. The Red Tacton chips will be embedded in machines and contain a transmitter and receiver built to send and accept data stored in a digital format. The chip then takes any type of file, such as an MP3 music file or email, and converts it into a format that takes the form of digital pulses that can be passed and read through a human beings electric field. The chip in the receiving device reads these tiny changes and converts the file back into its original form. In addition to Human Area Networks, Red Tacton plans to make communication possible among all the materials, which are conductive and dielectric. Red Tacton transceivers do emit weak electromagnetic fields, but are under permitted levels. The electrodes are covered with an insulating film. This prevents the current from Red Tacton to flow into the human body.

WHAT IS RED TACTON?

RedTacton is a new Human Area Networking technology that uses the surface of the human Body as a safe, high speed network transmission path. The name "Tacton" has originated, as this technology involves touch and action. the word "red" indicates warm and cordial communications. Red Tacton does not rely on electromagnetic or light waves to transmit data. Japanese company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) claims to have developed the first viable Human Area Network (HAN) device, enabling fast data transfer between devices using the human body as a conduit RedTacton uses the minute electric field emitted on the surface of the human body. Technically, it is completely distinct from wireless and infrared. A transmission path is formed at the moment a part of the human body comes in contact with a RedTacton transceiver. Physically separating ends the contact and thus ends communication. Using RedTacton, communication starts when terminals carried by the user or embedded in devices are linked in various combinations according to the user's natural, physical movements. Communication is possible using any body surfaces, such as the hands, fingers, arms, feet, face, legs or torso. RedTacton works through shoes and clothing as well. In RedTacton whole body is the perfect conductor for electronic data, meaning that information such as music and films could be downloaded in seconds via your elbow.

HISTORY
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT, headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. President and CEO, Norio Wada is pursuing research and development of an innovative Human Area Networking technology called RedTacton that 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. Using a novel electro-optic sensor, NTT has already developed a small PCMCIA card-sized prototype RedTacton transceiver. RedTacton enables the first practical Human Area Network between body-centered electronic devices and PCs or other network devices embedded in the environment via a new generation of user interface based on totally natural human actions such as touching, holding, sitting, walking, or stepping on a particular spot. RedTacton can be used for intuitive operation of computerbased systems in daily life, temporary one-to-one private networks based on personal handshaking, device personalization, security, and a host of other applications based on new behavior patterns enabled by RedTacton. NTT is committed to moving RedTacton out of the laboratory and into commercial production as quickly as possible by organizing joint field trials with partners outside the company, under NTT's comprehensive producer program.

Background
Human society is entering an era of ubiquitous computing, when networks are seamlessly interconnected and information is always accessible at our fingertips. The practical implementation of ubiquitous services requires three levels of connectivity: Wide Area Networks (WAN), typically via the Internet, to remotely connect all types of severs and terminals; Local Area Networks (LAN), typically via Ethernet or WiFi connectivity among all the information and communication appliances in offices and homes; and Human Area Networks (HAN) for connectivity to personal information, media and communication appliances within the much smaller sphere of ordinary daily activities-the last one meter. NTT's RedTacton is a break-through technology that, for the first time, enables reliable high-speed HAN. In the past, Bluetooth, infrared communications (IrDA), radio frequency ID systems (RFID), and other technologies have been proposed to solve the "last meter" connectivity problem. However, they each have various fundamental technical limitations that constrain their usage, such as the precipitous fall-off in transmission speed in multi-user environments producing networkcongestion.

HOW REDTACTON WORKS?

Using a new super-sensitive photonic electric field sensor, RedTacton can achieve duplex communication over the human body at a maximum speed of 10 Mbps

1. The RedTacton transmitter induces a weak electric field on the surface of the body. 2. The RedTacton receiver senses changes in the weak electric field on the surface of the body caused by the transmitter. 3. RedTacton relies upon the principle that the optical properties of an electro-optic crystal can vary according to the changes of a weak electric field. 4. RedTacton detects changes in the optical properties of an electro-optic crystal using a laser and converts the result to an electrical signal in a optical receiver circuit. RedTacton - can transmit data over the surface of the skin at up to 2Mbps. Where it differs, though, from previous offerings, is that a RedTacton-enabled device does not have to be in direct contact with the skin - only within about 20cm. It makes use of weak electric fields on the surface of the body. The weak electric fields travel through the body to a Red Tacton receiver. Red Tacton transceivers use an optical sensor to detect fluctuations in the electric field of the human body. These transceivers also include a mini laser and a crystal. There are certain objects like plastics, glass, ceramics, liquids and metals, which possess a weak electric field around them and are a source for such communication. Two people possessing Red Tacton devices can exchange data by simply shaking hands. Communication is not limited to the surface of the body. It can travel through clothing, to a potential Red Tacton device in the pocket.

In contrast to other wireless transmission methods, the transmission speed in human networks does not fade in the congested environments. This is attributed to the fact that the body surface is the transmission medium and the number of communication channels automatically increases with the presence of more people.In addition to Human Area Networks, Red Tacton plans to make communication possible among all the materials, which are conductive and dielectric. Red Tacton transceivers do emit weak electromagnetic fields, but are under permitted levels. The electrodes are covered with an insulating film. This prevents the current from Red Tacton to flow into the human body.

FEATURES OF REDTACTON RedTacton has three main functional features.

Technical Points
RedTacton takes a different technical approach. Instead of relying on electromagnetic waves or Light waves to carry data, RedTacton uses weak electric fields on the surface of the body as a transmission medium. A RedTacton transmitter couples with extremely weak electric fields on the surface of the body. The weak electric fields pass through the body to a RedTacton Receiver, where the weak electric fields affects the optical properties of an electro-optic crystal. The extent to which the optical properties are changed is detected by laser light which is then converted to an electrical signal by a detector circuit. The three major functional features of RedTacton are highlighted below.

TOUCH
A communications path can be created with a simple touch, automatically initiating the flow of data between a body-centric electronic device and a computer that is embedded in the environment. For example, two people equipped with RedTacton devices could exchange data just by shaking hands. A wide range of natural human actions -- grasping, sitting down, walking, or standing in a particular place -- can be used to trigger RedTacton to start a networked process.

BROADBAND&INTERACTIVE(DOWNLOAD FILES VIA FLESH)

IF you spend hours downloading songs to your iPod, the days of fiddling around with wires are coming to an end.A Japanese company has discovered that the best cables may be your arms and legs.Using a RedTacton electro-optic sensor, two-way communication is supported between any two points on the body at a throughput of up to 10 Mbps. Communication is not just confined to the surface of the body, but can travel through the user's clothing to a RedTacton device in a pocket or through shoes to communicate with a RedTacton device embedded in the floor. Unlike wireless technologies, the transmission speed does not deteriorate even in the presence of large crowds of people all communicating at the same time in meeting rooms, auditoriums or stores. Because the body surface is the transmission path, increasing the number of connected users directly increases the available number of individual communication channels.

ANY TRANSMISSION MEDIA

RedTacton can utilize a wide range of materials as a transmission medium, as long as the material is conductive and dielectric, which includes water and other liquids, various metals, certain plastics, glass, etc. Using ordinary structures such as tables and walls that are familiar and readily available, one could easily construct a seamless communication environment at very low cost using RedTacton .

New technology uses human body for broadband networking

Your body could soon be the backbone of a broadband personal data network linking your mobile phone or MP3 player to a cordless headset, your digital camera to a PC or printer, and all the gadgets you carry around to each other. These personal area networks are already possible using radio-based technologies, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, or just plain old cables to connect devices. But NTT, the Japanese communications company, has developed a technology called RedTacton, which it claims can send data over the surface of the skin at speeds of up to 2Mbps -- equivalent to a fast broadband data connection. Using RedTacton-enabled devices, music from an MP3 player in your pocket would pass through your clothing and shoot over your body to headphones in your ears. Instead of fiddling around with a cable to connect your digital camera to your computer, you could transfer pictures just by touching the PC while the camera is around your neck. NTT is not the first company to use the human body as a conduit for data: IBM pioneered the field in 1996 with a system that could transfer small amounts of data at very low speeds, and last June, Microsoft was granted a patent for "a method and apparatus for transmitting power and data using the human body."

Best technology for communication

Tom Zimmerman, the inventor of the original IBM system, says body-based networking is more secure than broadcast systems, such as Bluetooth, which have a range of about 10m. RedTacton - can transmit data over the surface of the skin at up to 2Mbps. Where it differs, though, from previous offerings, is that a RedTacton-enabled device does not have to be in direct contact with the skin - only within about 20cm. "With Bluetooth, it is difficult to rein in the signal and restrict it to the device you are trying to connect to," says Zimmerman. "You usually want to communicate with one particular thing, but in a busy place there could be hundreds of Bluetooth devices within range."As human beings are ineffective aerials, it is very hard to pick up stray electronic signals radiating from the body, he says. "This is good for security because even if you encrypt data it is still possible that it could be decoded, but if you can't pick it up it can't be cracked." Zimmerman(inventor of the original IBM system) also believes that, unlike infrared or Bluetooth phones and PDAs, which enable people to "beam" electronic business cards across a room without ever formally meeting, body-based networking allows for more natural interchanges of information between humans.

MECHANISM OF COMMUNICATION WITH RED TACTON

The transmitter sends data by inducing fluctuations in the minute electric field on the surface of the human body. Data is received using a photonic electric field sensor that combines an electro-optic crystal and a laser light to detect fluctuations in the minute electric field.

The naturally occurring electric field induced on the surface of the human body dissipates into the earth. Therefore, this electric field is exceptionally faint and unstable.The photonic electric field sensor developed by NTT enables weak electric fields to be measured by detecting changes in the optical properties of an electro-optic crystal with a laser beam.

COMPARISION WITH OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

RedTacton surpasses other human area networks in terms of communication performance and user convenience.

COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE:

P: POOR E: EXCELLENT

USER PERFORMANCE:
P: POOR E: EXCELLENT

APPLICATIONS:
One-to-One services With the ability to send attribute data from personal information devices worn on the body to computers embedded in the environment, one-to-one services could be implemented that are tailored to the individual needs of the user. Intuitive operation of personal information devices Communication is triggered by totally natural human actions and behavior, so there is no need to insert smart cards, connect cables, tune frequencies, or any of the other inconveniences usually associated with today's electronic devices. Device personalization Setup, registration, and configuration information for an individual user can all be uploaded to a device the instant the device is touched, eliminating the need for the device to be registered or configured in advance. Security applications RedTacton could be installed on doors, cabinets and other locations calling for secure access, such that each secure access could be initiated and authenticated with a simple touch. At the same time, all the transaction details and relevant user attributes (personal identity, security clearance, etc.) could be logged by the security system. New behavior patterns Tables, walls, floors and chairs can all act as conductors and dielectrics, turning furniture and other architectural elements into a new class of transmission medium. For example, a user could have instant access to the Internet merely by placing a laptop onto a conductive tabletop. Enlisting Partners for Collaborative Field Trials NTT hopes to conduct joint field trials in cooperation with outside companies and organizations to explore potential applications, verify RedTacton reliability, fine-tune the system, and gather business and market data.

PROTOTYPES:
NTT has made three types of prototypes REDTACTON TRANSRECEIVER(PC CARD TYPE) Communication speed: 10 Mbps Protocols: TCP/IP Communication method: Half-duplex Interface: PCMCIA REDTACTON TRANSRECEIVER(HUB TYPE) Communication speed: 10 Mbps Protocols: TCP/IP Communication method: Half-duplex Interface: RJ45

CONCLUSION:
Research is going on to embed these transceivers in mobile phones and

memory sticks. These Human Area Networks will enable the personalised information stored on the device worn on the body to be transmitted to the computers present in the neighbourhood. The communication process will be initiated, totally through human action. Metals, plastics, ceramics, glass, liquids, tables, walls, floors, chairs and any architectural medium having conductivity and dielectric behaviour are a potential communication medium. The developers are convinced that the new technology will be highly disruptive undermining existing wireless industries and causing everyone to rethink the way that everyday actions could be undertaken. Field tests are under way and the first commercial appearance of Red Tacton is expected next year. REFERENCES: www.redtacton.com www.nttlabs/redtacton.com www.sniptools/microsoftpapers/redtacton.com