A team of researchers has developed a prototype system that allows people to digitally transfer information through human touch.
Engineers at Purdue University in the US have built a prototype that allows the data to be sent through the direct touch of a fingertip, potentially allowing them to make a payment without directly using a card, phone or other device.
A money transfer application has not actually been developed yet, but the team said that users could already send information such as a photograph or password when touching the appropriate sensor on a laptop.
This system is not the same as biometric identification, where the details of a person’s account and biometric data such as fingerprints are stored and linked on a database.
Instead, the new technology establishes an ‘internet’ within the body that allows devices such as smartphones, smartwatches and other wearable tech to exchange information.
Medical devices such as pacemakers and insulin pumps could also potentially latch onto the network.
Wearable technology devices typically communicate via Bluetooth signals, which radiate outwards from their point of origin.
Shreyas Sen, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue, said that hackers could intercept these signals from as far as 30 feet away.
Technology keeps signals within the human body
The new technology keeps signals within the body using an ‘Electro-Quasistatic range’ that is lower than Bluetooth signals in the electromagnetic spectrum.
The tech could also potentially be used instead of Bluetooth-enabled key fobs and cards that allow entry into a building.
Credit card readers and apps such as Apple Pay already use near-field communication, which is more secure than Bluetooth, but the new technology would allow for digital communication without you having to physically use or reach for a device.
In order to bring the technology to the real world, receiving sensors or surfaces would have to be equipped with the hardware to receive data from the fingertip, while smartphones and wearable tech would need the capability to join the ‘in-body’ network.
The team believes that the technology could have a big impact if this is done, however.
Sen said: “Think of big touch screens that we have today – the only information that the computer receives is the location of your touch.
“But the ability to transfer information through your touch would change the applications of that big touch screen.”
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
Read more of our latest Industry Updates news stories
