Elizabeth Sheehan

The ‘human body network,’ the ‘human modem,’ or as it is more commonly known, the Personal Area Network (PAN) is a network computer concept that uses the human body as a conductor for transmitting electronic data either to other human beings or to inanimate objects such as ATMs and cell phones.

A computer card, that developers envision one day being the size of a credit card, uses the human body as a conductor to transmit information. The card ‘emits a continuous stream of electric signals that run through the body’ (Snider 1997:1); on this stream flows personal data about the user.

The technology is safe, even though a current is running through the body. The power generated by the card is only one-billionth of an amp, and the frequency is similar to that of an AM radio (Snider 1997). The ‘system sends signals using a portion of the AM band below the frequency used by radio transmissions, and transmits data about as fast as a 2400-baud modem’ (Ziegler 1996:B4). The natural salinity of the human body makes it an ideal conductor of electrical current.

Another important element of PAN is the system called UBIC (universal binary identification code). UBIC digitally encodes personal information and allows it to be stored on any digital device, so that it can be readily accessed (PAN website:2)

At its most basic, the PAN system works with two people, each of whom is equipped with the tiny pocket computer. One of the more dramatic demonstrations of PAN occurred at the 1996 COMDEX fall exhibition, when the data equivalent of a business card was transmitted by two people shaking hands. However, data need not be limited to hand-to-hand transmission. Data can be exchanged simply by touching someone’s shoulder, and data can also be transmitted through more than one person before reaching its final recipient.

PAN technology grew from work by Neil Gershenfeld and Michael Hawley, professors at MIT, on early research ‘based on sea creatures like catfish and sharks that use weak electric fields (EFs) for communication, perception and sex’ (Somerson 1997:1). They continue to work on perfecting PAN, but Tim Zimmerman is probably the researcher most associated with PAN technology.

Tim Zimmerman’s PAN advances grew out of Gershenfeld’s and Hawley’s work. Zimmerman, who co-developed this technology at MIT Media Lab while working for IBM, continues his research on ‘sending digital information through the human body at relevant – and potentially significant rates’ (GER/IBM:1) at the IBM Almaden Research Center in California.

IBM, who holds the patent to PAN technology (Ziegler 1996:B4), envisions it being used in three main ways: 1) passing simple data between electronic devices carried by two human beings; 2) the exchange of information between personal communication devices; and 3) the automation of secure consumer business transactions (Hi-Tech: 2).

Personal PAN applications are the future of this technology. IBM has already talked with telephone companies and car makers about applying this technology jointly, and products could materialize in the marketplace as early as 1999 (GER/IBM:1).

Potential scenarios of PAN applications include:

• The passing of information between two human beings by simple contact (the business card handshake’)
• The exchange of information between a pager automatically sending a telephone number to a cell phone
• The automation and securing of consumer business transactions. Some examples:
• The elimination of PINs for such things as calling cards and ATMs
• The elimination of waiting in line at establishments such as video stores and supermarkets through the use of a detecting device that would identify the customer and their selections, billing a personal account accordingly
• Safe and quick identification of patients, their medical history, and any special needs through simply touching them. This is an especially intriguing application if the person should be unconscious or otherwise unable to speak

The sharing of information between the multitude of personal communication devices is the factor that spurs the development of this technology. The proliferation of pagers, cell phones, and similar products make body-conducting technology more practical than other methods of connection, such as pre-wiring or infrared. PAN does not require direct line of site or regular radio frequencies.

An interesting theory also suggests that PAN technology could help to eliminate fraud with such devices as cash machines and calling cards where a criminal can obtain a personal identification code. PAN technology offers a certain amount of privacy, if used correctly, that is not found with traditional keypad and touch-tone entries.

Two issues regarding PAN technology that seem to be at odds are ease-of-use and personal privacy. On the one hand, PAN technology taken to its fullest potential increases the utilization of personal information electronics. The interconnectivity of a pager to a cell phone to a personal PC would boost the value of all those devices through synergy and contributes to their convenience of use.

However, a future situation where all these devices were linked would require that the PAN user emit a code with personal and financial information. This user-code would have to be monitored judiciously by the individual, preventing its inadvertent transmission. For instance, do you transmit confidential information when you inadvertently touch someone also equipped with a PAN card? Can a retail establishment scan you for demographic information without your knowledge? A user-profile would be necessary to activate a PAN device, and that means unscrupulous persons, or even companies, could potentially intercept that information without one’s knowledge.

Privacy issues aside, the future of PAN appears bright. ‘Human beings have an insatiable need to communicate’ (PAN website:1) and they want to communicate in the most convenient way possible. With the proliferation of laptops, pagers, cell phones, and digital watches, how could researchers resist a way of somehow networking them all so they work together?

In mid-1998, PAN technology is still considered in the research stage, but it is constantly being refined. Practical issues of transmission sensitivity and data transmission rate still need to be worked out. But the portentous ‘business-card handshake’ at COMDEX 1996 opened the Pandora’s Box known as PAN; it is unlikely researchers will close it any time soon, nor would they want to.

Snider, M. (1997) ‘Someday you’ll send data with a handshake’, USA Today, 29 August.

Somerson, P. (1997) ‘I’ve got a server in my pants!’ ZDNet UK, online. Available: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/athome/feature/serverinpants/.

Zieger, B. (1996) "IBM wants your body for a very personal PC’, Wall Street Journal, 18 November.

‘Germany: IBM Pans for gold’, online. Available: wysiwyg://26//http://www.infowar.com/resource/res_s.html-ssi (9 April 1998).

‘Hi-tech, hi-touch: Personal Area Networks’, online. Available: http://www.research.ibm.com/research/pan.html (13 April 1998).

‘Personal Area Network’, online. Available: http://www.globalserve.net/~mihnea/sebi/into.html (20 April 1998).

‘Shake hands with the future: Personal Area Network technology brings a new meaning to network computing’, online. Available: http://www.ibm.com/TradeShows/Comdex/Fall96/pan.html (4 April 1998).

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