Transmitting Data via Human Skin

The title link is to a story announcing a new and very interesting technology called RedTacton that has the ability to transmit data at speeds of up to 2Mbps via human skin! For those not familiar with data transfer speeds, 2Mbps is about the average speed of a home user's broadband cable or DSL internet connection. The idea behind this is that people carrying electronic devices such as PDAs, cameras, MP3 players, etc. could be exchanged with another device by simply touching it.

And since data can pass from one body to another, you could also exchange electronic business cards by shaking hands, trade music files by dancing cheek to cheek, or swap phone numbers just by kissing.

I think this is actually a really good idea. It is fairly easy and convenient to touch a device or person to trade data, and if the files are small the contact need only take place for a second or three. Current wireless methods such as blue tooth, broadcast data in a radius around the device, often up to 20+ feet away. Broadcasting data over the air means others could intercept it, yet data transferred through your skin means you must be in close contact with the person sending the data. Already people have developed ways to broadcast advertisements to wireless devices, send viruses, steal data, etc. In theory this wouldn't be possible with skin based transmission unless that spammer ran through a crowded room touching as many people as possible, which would at least give you a chance to punch the person sending you unwanted junk mail.

I am really looking forward to seeing this technology develop.