NTT Firmo: Skin instead of wires

NTT launched its first solution that uses the surface of human skin to transmit signals instead of cables. NTT Firmo is an innovative solution, that is built on a transmitter the size of a credit card, which is kept in the pocket of the user. The human skin transmits the signals of the weak electric field created by the card from the data stored on it. If the user touches a device that has an appropriate receiver than it can convert the signals back. The first version of Firmo is only capable of 230 kbps speed, transmitting 28.75 kbyte of data per second, but the cheap 10 megabit version is coming soon, that supports the transmission of audio and video signals. Firmo is based on the NTT RedTacton's HAN (Human Area Network) solution which is capable of communication through simple touches. According to NTT the solution is completely harmless for humans and at the same time it can increase security inside the company, may it be a security gate or a conventional door, which opens only if the human hand transmits the appropriate signal to it. The price of the set composed of five transmitters and a receiver is currently very high (about 8.000 dollars), but a fast decrease of the price is expected to happen when mass production starts.