“LikeBelt” Prototype Lets Users Update Facebook with a Hip Thrust

Virtually everywhere you look on the Internet there is a little "like" link or button, allowing you to declare to the world (or at least those you've friended on your social networking site) that you like something. Now, a new and perhaps bright idea has come along that extends such virtual declarations to the real world. It's called the LikeBelt, and it allows users to "like" something, by simply shaking, or thrusting their hips at it. Wired magazine says it's like the next great thing, though maybe not in its current form.

The belt relies on a technology called near field communications (NFC) which is a fancy way of describing very low frequency radio wave transmissions. It's the same technology, the magazine says, that is used by Smartphones to read "smart" discount coupons in magazines with a Smartphone, or to pay for goods directly at the checkout stands at some technically progressive stores.

What happens is, when a user straps on the new belt, they're really just affixing the buckle to the front of the body, it's the thing that does all the work. Thrusting the hips activates a sensor in the buckle that sends out a very tiny radio signal in the direction of the thrust. If the thing the radio signal hits has an embedded receiver and associated hardware and software, it sends a signal back as a simple reply. A receiver in the belt buckle, upon hearing the reply then sends a message to a processor either in the belt buckle or to one in a Smartphone. The processor decodes the reply, noting in particular the identifying code of the thing that was "liked" then sends a message online to the social networking sight indicating a "like" has transpired. From there, the rest of the system works just as it would had the person clicked on a "like" link while online.

Retreat online likens it to a sexual gesture similar to the hip thrust employed by rock stars to make their meaning clear, or to put it another way, a vulgar attempt to indicate desire in a public setting. Zimguardian takes a more tactful approach noting that the belt and buckle are little more than a gimmick to waken users to the possibilities of NFC technology, in which DeepLocal, creators of the LikeBelt specialize.

In either case, it's clear that NFC technology is likely to creep into our lives just as have cellphones and iPads, and thus it won't be long before we're interacting with inanimate objects as we meander through our daily lives.