That's when they realized they were on to something. The natural salinity of the human body makes it an excellent conductor of electrical current, and PAN technology takes advantage of this by creating an external electric field that passes a tiny current, over which data is carried. In fact, the electrical field created by running a comb through hair is more than 1,000 times greater than that being used by PAN technology. So in the same way a personal digital assistant trades information with a desktop computer, the card could synch up data between devices. Since the card uses only the body as its wire, security is an inherent part of the Personal Area Network's appeal.
PANs are still a research technology.
Although rumor has it that several large companies are interested in incorporating the technology soon, none of them are talking about it openly. We've had a lot of requests for companies about this technology. Send your rants and raves to Wired News. All rights reserved.