DEC 06, 2020 8:15 PM PST

Advancing Digital Communication

WRITTEN BY: Nouran Amin

Communicating technical information via touch? A prototype recently developed by engineers may do just that!

"We're used to unlocking devices using our fingerprints, but this technology wouldn't rely on biometrics -- it would rely on digital signals. Imagine logging into an app on someone else's phone just by touch," said Shreyas Sen, a Purdue associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. "Whatever you touch would become more powerful because digital information is going through it."

The study was published in Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, a journal by the Association for Computing Machinery.

“The technology works by establishing an "internet" within the body that smartphones, smartwatches, pacemakers, insulin pumps and other wearable or implantable devices can use to send information. These devices typically communicate using Bluetooth signals that tend to radiate out from the body. A hacker could intercept those signals from 30 feet away,” Sen said.

"Anytime you are enabling a new hardware channel, it gives you more possibilities. 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," Sen said.

Watch this video below to learn more:

Source: Science Daily

About the Author
Doctorate (PhD)
Nouran is a scientist, educator, and life-long learner with a passion for making science more communicable. When not busy in the lab isolating blood macrophages, she enjoys writing on various STEM topics.
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