personal area network
Transmitting data over a short distance of typically no more than two or three feet. Bluetooth is an example of a wireless PAN (see WPAN).
The Most Personal of Personal Area Networks
In the mid-1990s, IBM's Almaden Research Center developed a method that let people transfer information by touch. It worked by sending a billionth of an amp (nanoamp) of current through the body, which is actually a thousand times less than the current generated by combing your hair.
Numerous applications were cited; for example, business card data could be exchanged by shaking hands. By touching a pager in one hand, the calling telephone number could be sent to a cellphone in the other hand. A PAN-enabled unit worn on the wrist could transmit a user's ID to an ATM or security checkpoint.
In 2007, Ident NA Technology was founded to market SKINPLEX in the U.S. Developed in Germany by Ident Technology AG, SKINPLEX uses the human skin as the transmission medium. For more information, visit www.skinplex.net. See also processor area network.
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| Touch and Transfer |
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| Reminiscent of the movie E.T., this photo depicts the transfer of business card information by touching fingers. (Image courtesy of IBM Almaden Research Center.) |