Firmo

Previously we’ve featured Smart Things that transfer your data. It’s like in those spy movies where two agents shake hands, then part immediately after, totally baffling the enemy agents as to how they transferred the information. Well, we just gave away the secret. The Nippon Telephones and Telegraph company has developed a device that transmits data across the surface of the human body. The device can let users communicate with electronic devices just by touching them.

You wont have to undergo surgery of any kind to achieve this super power. The new product, called Firmo, is a card-sized transmitter carried in the user’s pocket. The card converts stored data into a weak AC electric field that extends across the body, and when the user touches a device or object embedded with a compatible receiver, the electric field is converted back into a data signal that can be read by the device.

For now, Firmo transfers data at 230kbps, but NTT is working on a low-cost 10Mbps version that can handle audio/video data transfers.