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Touchlink

touchlink

Touchlink is a physical contact interface technology used to connect a user's internal data network with external devices without the use of radio or optical transmissions.

A basic touchlink system uses an external interface attached to a particular machine and a complementary interface built into the user's onboard Direct Neural Interface and augmentations. When the user touches the external interface a link is established and data and control signals are transmitted using the body as a conduit. While not equal to the performance of a wireless or optical link, the system uses only a fraction of the power and has the added advantages of being both harder to monitor and less subject to outside interference such as competing signals or natural interference.

The basic technology of the touchlink was actually developed during the Information Age, when researchers discovered that it was possible to transmit low frequency electromagnetic waves through biological tissue. With the further development of small, flexible, and durable electrodes that could be readily stuck to the skin, it was only a short step to transmitting data directly through the human body. Initially the technology was primarily used to link together medical sensors and later, internal medical robotics, but as DNI and mental augmentation were developed, touchlink technology became commonplace.

 
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Appears in Topics
AugmenticsCommunicationsVirtual/Infotech
 
Development Notes
Text by Todd Drashner
Initially published on 21 June 2010.

 
 
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