OT: Speaking of current generated in various ways, MIT's Multi-Media lab students have been working on various wear-able computer concoctions. They're dreaming up things called PAN's. PAN's? Yup, you've heard of LAN's(Local Area Networks), and I'm sure you've heard of WAN's(Wide Area Networks).
PAN's are Personal Area Networks. Totally wireless, wearable computer systems. Picture this, your computer would be in the heel of your shoe(shades of a certain old TV show with....who was that guy....Don Knox's??). Using the electric field potential of your body this computer could communicate with your wrist watch(as but one example) for visual display purposes(the same could go with eye glass wearers), providing you with a wealth of information. Think of your body as becoming that computers Universal Bus for all wearable devices. Indeed, once sufficiently mainstream, you'd no longer have to exchange business cards in meetings as upon handshake your PAN would communicate with the handshakee's PAN and, VIOLA!, all the information you want to give to that person would automatically be transmitted via that handshake. Oh.....and the power source would be derived from walking, based on certain smart metal technologies capabilities to generate current from pressure differentials. Yup, those MIT propeller heads are certainly playing with some remarkable stuff.
John~ |
