Human Area

Network
By: Vinayak Nandikal
 Introduction to HAN
Data travels
across the
body’s natural
electric field
A circuit is
Personal
created when
data stored
a person
on a
touches a
transmitte
target object
r Information
Human body enters a
is surrounded receiver –
by a minute can activate
electric field commands
such as
Human Area Networking is a technology that safely
unlock door
turns the surface of the human body into a data
transmission path at speeds up to 10 Mbps between
 History of HAN

•The concept of intra-body

communication was first
proposed by IBM in 1996.

•This communication mechanism

was later evaluated and reported
by several research groups
around the world.

• All those reported technologies

had two limitations
 Limitations…
1. The operating range through the body
was limited to a few tens of centimeters
.

3. The top communication speed was only

40 bit/s !!
 These limitations were overcome by NTT
(Nippon Telegraph and Telephone
Corporation) located in Tokyo, Japan by using
photonic electric field sensors and finally
came up with a human area networking
technology called ‘REDTACTON’.
 Electro-optic sensor
The electro-optic sensor has three key features:

It can measure electric fields from a device under test

(DUT) without contacting it, which minimizes
measurement disturbance.

Ultra wide-band measurement is possible

It supports one-point contact measurement that is

independent of the ground, which is the most significant
feature in the present context.

NTT utilized this third feature to fabricate an intrabody

communication receiver for its human area networking
technology, which is called RedTacton.
 Overview of HAN
RedTacton is a new Human Area Networking
technology that turns the surface of the human body
as a safe, high speed network transmission path.

Communication is possible using any body

surfaces, such as the hands, fingers, arms, feet,
face, legs or toes.

 RedTacton works through shoes and clothing as

well.

 RedTacton uses the minute electric field emitted

on the surface of the human body for data
transmission.
 What is RedTacton?

“touch-act-on” Meaning “action

TACTON triggered by touching”.

It is an auspicious color according to

RED Japanese culture
 RedTacton transceiver

Figure shows a photograph of the

RedTacton transceiver connected to a
PDA and a block diagram of the
RedTacton transceiver developed by
 RedTacton transceiver

The transmitter consists of a transmitter circuit that

induces electric fields toward the body and a data sense
circuit, which distinguishes transmitting and receiving
modes by detecting both transmission and reception data
and outputs control signals corresponding to the two
modes to enable two-way communication.

Implementation of receive-first half-duplex

communication scheme that sends only after checking to
make sure that there is no data to receive in order to
avoid packet collisions

RedTacton takes advantage of the long-overlooked

electric field that surrounds the human body.
 How RedTacton
works?

1. The RedTacton transmitter induces a weak electric

field on the surface of the body.
2. The RedTacton receiver senses changes in the
weak electric field on the surface of the body caused
by the transmitter.
Contd…

3. RedTacton relies upon the principle that the

optical properties of an electro-optic crystal can vary
according to the changes of a weak electric field.
4. RedTacton detects changes in the optical
properties of an electro-optic crystal using a laser
and converts the result to an electrical signal in a
optical receiver circuit

Multiple transceivers can be used simultaneously.

This is because RedTacton uses a proprietary
CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with
Collision Detection) protocol that allows multiple
access with the same medium from multiple nodes
Mechanism of communication with
RedTacton The naturally occurring
electric field induced on the
surface of the human body
dissipates into the earth.
Therefore, this electric field
is exceptionally faint and
unstable. The photonic
electric field sensor
developed by NTT enables
weak electric fields to be
measured by detecting
changes in the optical
properties of an electro-optic
crystal with a laser beam.
 System
Safety
 NO current flows into human body from
redtacton devices. RedTacton uses the electric
field that occurs naturally on the surface of the
human body for communication. Transmitter and
receiver electrodes are covered with an insulating
films.
RedTacton is in conformity to the
"Radiofrequency-exposureProtection” standard
(RCR STD-38)" issued by the Association of Radio
Industries and Businesses (ARIB).
Features of RedTacton
RedTacton has three main functional
features.
 
Touching, gripping, sitting, walking, stepping and other
human movements can be the triggers for unlocking or
locking, starting or stopping equipment, or obtaining data.

Duplex, interactive communication is possible at a

maximum speed of 10Mbps. Because the transmission
path is on the surface of the body, transmission speed
does not deteriorate in congested areas where many
people are communicating at the same time.

In addition to the human body, various conductors and

dielectrics can be used as transmission media.
Conductors and dielectrics may also be used in
 Applications
Four major application fields using RedTacton
are introduced:

• One to One services

• Intuitive Operations

• Personalization

• New Behaviour patterns

• Security Applications
1. One to One services

Enable one-to-one services tailored

to the user's situation and tastes

Information recorded in the

RedTacton device is sent to the
touched objects.

 Appropriate service is provided

based on the information received by
the RedTacton receiver.
 a) Elimination of Human Errors

 An alarm sounds
automatically to avoid
accidental medicine
ingestion.

RedTacton devices embedded medicine bottles

transmit information on the medicines' attributes. If
the user touches the wrong medicine, an alarm will
trigger on the terminal he is carrying. The alarm
sounds only if the user actually touches the medicine
bottle, reducing false alarms common with passive
wireless ID tags, which can trigger simply by proximity
 b). Marketing Applications (context awareness)

 Touch advertising and

receive information.

When a consumer stands in front of an advertising

panel, advertising and information matching his or her
attributes is automatically displayed. By touching or
standing in front of items they are interested in,
consumers can get more in-depth information.
2. Intuitive operations

 Natural movements and actions are the

trigger (touch).

 Red Tacton transceivers embedded in two

terminals can communicate not only data but
also the control or configuration instructions
needed to operate devices (broadband &
interactive).
 a) Intuitive Operations

 Touch a printer to print.

Print out where you want just by touching the

desired printer with one hand and a PC or digital
camera with the other hand to make the link.
 b). Instant private data exchange

 Instantaneous private
network via personal
handshake

By shaking hands, personal profile data can be

exchanged between mobile terminals on the users.
(Electronic exchange of business cards) Communication
can be kept private using authentication and encryption
technologies.
3. Personalization
Digital lifestyle can be instantly personalized
with just a touch.

 A pre-recorded configuration script can be

embedded in a mobile terminal with built-in
RedTacton transceiver.

 When another device with RedTacton

capabilities is touched, personalization data
and configuration scripts can be downloaded
automatically.
 a) Personalization of mobile phones

 Just touching a phone, makes

it your own.

Your own phone number is allocated and billing

commences. Automatic importing of personal
address book and call history.
Examples of similar applications:
Room temperature and lighting are customized
when a switch in the living room is pressed.
 b). Personalization of Automobiles

 Just sitting on the seat

riggers the car to load all its
presets, just the way you like

The seat position and steering wheel height adjust to

match the driver just by sitting in the car. The driver's
home is set as the destination in the car navigation
system. The stereo plays the driver's favorite song.
 4. New Behaviour
pattern

 Various conductors and dielectrics can be used as

Red Tacton
communication media and this has the potential
to create new
behaviour patterns.

 Walls and partitions can be used as

communication media.
 a). Conferencing system

 Connect a
network by just
putting laptop on
the table.

An electrically conductive sheet is embedded in the

table. A network connection is initiated simply by
placing a lap-top on the table. Using different sheet
patterns enables segmentation of the table into
subnets.
 b). Wearable

Wireless Headset

RedTacton can carry music or video between

headsets, mobile devices, mobile phones, etc. Users
can listen to music from a RedTacton player simply by
putting on a headset or holding a viewer.
5. Security Applications

Automatic user authentication and log-in

with just a touch.

 ID and privileges are recorded in a

mobile RedTacton device.

 Corresponding RedTacton receivers are

installed at security check points.

 The system can provide authentication

and record who touched the device, and
when.
a) User verification and lock management at entrance

 User verification &

unlocking with just a
touch.
Carrying a mobile RedTacton-capable device in one's
pocket, ID is verified and the door unlocked when the
user holds the doorknob normally. Secure lock
administration is possible by combining personal
verification tools such as fingerprint ID or other
biometric in the mobile terminal.
Examples of similar applications:
Automated car door lock/unlock just by touching
the handle; unlocking a bicycle just by sitting on it. As a
 b). Confidential document management

 Automatic access log for

confidential document
storage.

A RedTacton receiver in a cabinet where important

documents are stored enables lock administration and
keeps a record of who accessed documents at what
time.
 Comparison with other
Human
communication
methods

RedTacton does not With the electric

require the electrode to be amperage method,
in direct contact with the electrode must be in direct
skin. contact with the skin.
Contd….
Signal &
Distance & Contact status with
Detection Ground line
speed the electrode
system

The electrode must be

Clear signal lines in constant contact
Amperage Elbow to fingertip at
needed for body with the body to
electric approx. 3kbps
and earth ground maintain good
conductivity

Communication
Capacity coupling
possible even
Voltage between the earth Wrist to fingertip at
when passing
electric ground and approx. 1kbps
through thin
equipment
insulators

Capacity coupling Communication

Electric field
between the earth Anywhere on the body possible even
photonics
ground and at up to 10Mbps through shoes and
(RedTacton)
equipment clothing
Comparison with other network technologies

Wireless Red
Evaluation criteria Infrared
Tacton Performance:
LAN

E:
Transfer speed Excellent
(Can DVD-quality images be E P E
sent?)
P: Poor
Performance deterioration
during periods of congestion P E E
(Simultaneous use by many
people in small spaces)

Duplex data transfer

(Interactive processing) E E E
 RedTacton prototypes
NTT has made three types of prototypes:

Communicationspeed:10Mbps
Protocols : TCP/IP
Communication method :Half-duplex
Interface: PCMCIA

Communicationspeed:10Mbps
Protocols :TCP/IP
Communication method : Half-duplex
Interface: RJ45

(under constructions)
Plans for Commercialization
It seems like there was a press release event
where they demoed the technology. The first demo
was a PDA medication assistant that shows
instructions relevant to touched medicine bottles.
The second was a museum guide PDA whose
contents was fed from a floor-embedded transmitter
through a user’s feet.

NTT plans to develop transceivers with an

emphasis on portability that are more compact and
less power consumption. Through field testing, NTT
will continue to investigate and improve the
robustness of Human Area Networking and human
body surface communication applications.
Thank You