Sensory Transmission Protocol SenseNet Completes First Intercontinental Tactile Handshake: The Internet Expands Beyond Sight and Sound
The ITU-approved SenseNet protocol completed its first intercontinental tactile data transmission between Tokyo and São Paulo, allowing humans to 'feel' each other's hand pressure through the internet for the first time.
On August 16, 2028, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced that the sensory transmission protocol SenseNet completed its first intercontinental tactile data transmission experiment between the University of Tokyo and the University of São Paulo. Researchers at both locations used their respective haptic gloves to successfully "feel" the pressure, temperature, and surface texture of each other's palms.
SenseNet defines a standardized "sensory data packet" format encompassing three categories: tactile (pressure, temperature, vibration), olfactory (molecular concentration profiles), and gustatory (chemical stimulation parameters). Similar to existing video and audio streaming, SenseNet compresses, packets, transmits, and reconstructs sensory data as physical stimuli at the receiving end.
University of Tokyo Human-Computer Interaction Lab director Professor Kenichi Tanaka demonstrated the handshake. After putting on haptic gloves, he slowly clenched his right hand — 17,000 kilometers away in São Paulo, collaborator Maria Silva's gloves simultaneously produced the same grip force. The latency was 43 milliseconds, below the human perception threshold.
"We're building an entirely new internet layer — a sensory layer," Professor Tanaka said. "Remote medical palpation, remote education lab operations, even remote social hugging will all become possible."
SenseNet's commercialization timeline targets late 2029, with initial supported devices being professional haptic gloves for medical and education sectors, priced between $500 and $800.
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