The communications field has come a long way in the 75 years since the first transatlantic phone call. Just how far was put into stark relief earlier this week when researchers at MIT and University College London conducted the world’s first transatlantic handshake. The pioneers of the Internet technology that made this feat possible — PHANToM, a device that sends and receives electronic impulses via fiber-optic " nerves " — insist that handshakes are only the beginning. One day, if all goes well, the program will enable Web users to meet in a virtual room and feel each other from head to toe.

" We can already experience shapes and textures, " says Mandayam Srinivasan, director of MIT’s Touch Lab. " We expect [in the future] it will feel as natural as when you touch with your hand. Our interactions will get a lot more natural and a lot more satisfying. "

Though PHANToM is being called a revolution in communication technology, no one seems quite sure what form that revolution will take. " We don’t know all of the applications, " says Srinivasan. " There could be teaching uses. There could be virtual sculptures. A hundred thousand people could build a virtual pyramid that they could touch and feel. You could play musical instruments. Topmost, in my mind, are the medical applications: telemedicine, telesurgery. " He adds, " I am very excited about this. "

But Srinivasan isn’t the only one who’s getting worked up about the prospect of touch technology. Though long-distance breast examinations are being touted as one of PHANToM’s many uses, chances are that for every doctor interested in feeling a woman’s breast for lumps, there will be a thousand men simply interested in feeling a woman’s breasts. " The ramifications of this, " says Jon Messner, owner of the adult Web site Wetlands.net, " are unlimited. "

Messner’s site already features a primitive form of sexual interactivity: a remote-control program which, Messner explains, allows users to adjust the " vibration, gyration, and thrust " of an elaborate sex toy, all the while observing " the subject’s facial expression as they apply more pressure. " He adds, " It’s incredibly popular. " Messner has so far been stymied in his efforts to install software that will allow the electro-stimulation to be reciprocated, and he believes that PHANToM could be the answer to his problem. " This, " he says, " could be amazing. "

Srinivasan, told of Messner’s interest, seems taken aback. " I don’t know, " he says. " I can’t speculate on that. I don’t know much about that industry. I would like to think it will be put to use in substantial human activities, hopefully saving lives. "

Messner, meanwhile, calls this attitude naive. " It may raise a few eyebrows, " he says, " but people in my business will probably be the first to use [PHANToM]. We are pretty quick to grab something like this and run with it. This is where it will be beta tested. We will work all the kinks out, find its strengths and its limitations, and determine how well it’ll be received in the medical field or whatever. "

Furthermore, Messner adds, online porn is a substantial — even life-saving — activity. " A lot of people don’t realize that the Internet is a godsend for people who don’t have a sexual life, " he says. " There are people who are shut in, locked off from the outside world for whatever reason, physical or mental. This is going to bring people one step closer to a real sex life, and I think that’s a wonderful thing. "