Mon 07 Jul 2007Info transfer goes touchy feelyTOKYOin the Star Trek movies, Spock was famously
able to download information directly from the skulls of friend and
foe alike by putting his hands on them. Known as the Vulcan Mind
Meld, he once even performed it on a humpback whale. But what if
you could actually access information just by touch? Japan's Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) is experimenting with
just such a technology.Dubbed RedTacton (RT), the technology uses the natural
electrical field around the human body to transmit information at a
claimed speed of 10 Mbps. Essentially, people wearing RT devices
could exchange huge quantities of information in a handshake.