Proceedings of 1st International Symposium for Color Science and Art 2019

Transmission of Color Information
Using Human Body Communication
Fukuro Koshiji, Ryogo Urushidate, Kojiro Tanaka
Tokyo Polytechnic University, 1583 Iiyama, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0297, Japan
communication technologies such as Wireless LAN andBluetooth, the HBC is advantageous in terms of its
communication secrecy, low power consumption, andintuitive tactile operation. Because of these advantages,
the HBC is expected to be utilized in wearable devices foraugmented reality and enhancing human ability.
In this research, in order to expand communicationmeans and to expand human ability and augmented reality,
the transmission of color information using the HBC isstudied.

ABSTRACTIn this study, focused on human body communication(HBC) technology, one of the promising body area
network technologies, color information data transmission
using HBC technology was investigated. Consequently,
the color information data were confirmed to be stablytransmittable by the FSK modulation with a 10.7-MHz
center frequency through the body.
1. INTRODUCTION
Color has messages and power. For example, “redcolor” reminds us of various things such as passion,
danger, fire, and life. Messages obtained from colors havea great influence on psychological and physicalsensations such as feelings, emotions, and impressions.
Therefore, colors can be used as a means ofcommunication.
On the other hand, in daily greetings, directly touchingwith others, such as shaking hands and hugs, is also oneof basic communication means in human society.
In recent years, human body communication (HBC) thatuses the human body as a part of a signal transmission
medium attracts attention as a promising wirelesscommunication method for body area network [1].
In the HBC devices, since the human body is used as apart of the transmission medium, a nonradiativeelectromagnetic field for communication is distributed
around the human body. Therefore, the human body
behaves as a part of the transmission medium, andcommunication between HBC devices arranged on thehuman body surface can be performed with highefficiency.
In the IEEE 802.15.6 standard, HBC is defined as oneof the three physical layers for the body area network [2].
In comparison with other conventional wirelessColor informationfrom smartphone

2. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
Figure 1 shows a block diagram of an HBC systemprototyped in this study. In the transmitter shown in Fig.1(a), the data acquired by a smartphone are sent to amodulation circuit (Modulator) via a microcontroller unit
(MCU), and modulated by the FSK modulator with a center
frequency of 10.7 MHz, and those modulated RF signals
are transmitted to the human body through the band passfilter (BPF) and transmitter electrode.
In the receiver shown in Fig. 1 (b), the receiverelectrode on the body surface receives the modulated RF
signals, which propagate through the human body. The
received signals are demodulated by the demodulation
circuit via the BPF and amplifier circuit, and thedemodulated signals are delivered to the full-color
RGB-LED via the MCU. Both transmitter and receiver are
powered by the rechargeable battery.
3. LIGHTING COLOR CONTROL
Figure 2 is a photograph of the prototyped transmitterand receiver. In the prototyped system, the user selects
the color from the color chart displayed on the smartphone.
The chosen color information is sent to the HBCtransmitter and the modulated RF signal is transmitted tothe human body through the electrode. In the receiver, theModulator

MCUBPF

ElectrodeRF signal tohuman body(a) Transmitter
RF signal
from humanbodyElectrode

BPF + Amp.

Demod.

(b) ReceiverFig. 1 System block diagram

57

MCU

Data tofull-color
RGB-LEDProceedings of 1st International Symposium for Color Science and Art 2019

Back side

HBC transmitter

Transmitter (Smartphone)

Receiver (RGB LED)
Full color
RGB‐LED

Receiving
electrode

Transmitting
electrode(a) Transmitter(b) ReceiverFig. 2 A prototyped human body communication system

Fig. 3 Lighting color control using prototyped systemwere confirmed to be stably transmittable by the FSK
modulation with a 10.7-MHz center frequency through thebody.

RF signal received by the receiving electrode isdemodulated and sent to the MCU. The MCU controls theintensity of the three LEDs of full-color RGB-LED bypulse-width-modulation (PWM) based on the received
color information data.
Figure 3 shows photographs when lighting color control
is performed using the prototype system. As shown in Fig.
3, the color information selected by the smartphone held in
the left hand is transmitted through the human body, andthe color and intensity of the full color LED in the receiverare controlled.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
A part of this research was supported by JSPS
KAKENHI Grant Number 17K13101.
REFERENCES[1] F. Koshiji, and K. Sasaki, “Input Impedance
Characteristics of Wearable Transmitters for
Body-CentricNetworks”,
2018
International
Conference on Electronics Packaging (ICEP2018),
pp1-6, 2008.
[2] IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan areanetworks, Part 15. 6: Wireless Body Area Networks;
2012; ISBN 9780738172064.

4. CONCLUSION
In this study, focused on HBC technology, one of thepromising body area network technologies, color
information data transmission using HBC technology wasinvestigated. Consequently, the color information data

58