A personal area network (PAN) is a technological concept that would enable information to be passed from person to person or from a person to a machine, by touch. Technology being developed principally at the Alamaden Research Center of the International Business Machine Corporation would, in effect, turn the human body into a copper cable. A PAN would enable someone to identify themselves to a device they own, such as a car or telephone, and eliminate the need for keys or coins.

The genesis of the PAN was the development of the data glove in 1982 by Thomas Zimmerman. Although initially used more for game purposes, the data glove spawned the idea that the body could be used as a conduit for the transmission of electronic information. This idea gained credence when the IBM researchers worked with the renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma...