Adding the Body to the Personal Network
In a world where everything is connected, from our phones to our watches and TVs, perhaps the only thing that isn’t linked to the internet is our bodies. This could change with the research of a team at University of California, San Diego. A team is developing a technology that allows devices that one usually carries, such as a laptop or cell phone, to transmit data not through the air, but through the body. Wi-Fi, cellular, and Bluetooth signals are all transmitted via radio waves. Wi-Fi and cellular signals have a long range compared to Bluetooth and connect devices to the internet while Bluetooth is very short range and connects personal devices. However, because Bluetooth does not travel well through the body, it needs to path around it, requiring more energy and increasing the risk of someone intercepting the signal. With this new technology, signals no longer need air as a medium of transmission. It uses magnetic fields that travel right through the body with higher efficiency and much lower signal loss. This system would mainly be used to allow communication with sensors that monitor bodily functions.
In the near future, one may be able to check their heart rate and blood pressure just as easily as the weather. Recently, the use of personal networks has exploded. Now people are carrying fitness trackers, smart watches, cell phones, tablets, and laptops. The devices in this personal network are constantly communicating with each other. Soon, your own body could become a node in this network, sending information to a fitness tracker for even more accurate data capture or telling your phone to call emergency services if you suffer a heart attack or otherwise life threatening event. This way, the nodes in your personal network are now even more interconnected through a central node.