JAPAN'S NTT has announced the first Human Area Network application with its Redtaction security device that uses the human body surface for transport.

The company calls its skin based networking interface "Firmo" meaning "fairy motion" and likens it to Tinkerbell's aura.

It works by detecting changes in the weak electrodynamic fields surrounding the human body by measuring slight distortions in an electro-optic crystal with a laser beam.

Redtaction works when any part of the human body comes in close proximity to its transceiver, using 10Mbps duplex communications. The technology works through clothing and is very safe because no electrical current enters the body.

NTT claims its security device is notably more secure than existing short-range wireless security schemes because it works over a much shorter range, requiring the person seeking entry to a secure area to be practically in contact with the transceiver to be admitted.

Wireless security systems that operate over longer ranges of several meters or more can permit unauthorised individuals to follow authorised persons through secured entrances, says NTT.

A technically sophisticated attacker might also even be able to capture existing wireless security system communications and reverse engineer the system, we reckon.

NTT is offering a Redtaction Firmo evaluation kit that includes an embeddable transceiver, five card-type transmitters and a touch plate for approximately US $7,722. µ

L'Inq
Physorg.com