Oulu team explores magnetic communication for smartphones
A system called Pulse uses the magnetic field sensor, or magnetometer, for the compass app in smartphones to get messages in the form of a varying magnetic field produced by a nearby electromagnet. The report in New Scientist features the work of Vassilis Kostakos and team at the University of Oulu Department of Computer Science and Engineering in Finland. They built a test electromagnet system that communicated with Android phones. They encoded data in a varying magnetic field and they could transmit items such as a web address and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) music sequence from the electromagnet to the phone. MIDI is a standard that allows electronic musical instruments, computers and other devices to connect and communicate with one another.
