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Semacode - Hyperlinks For The Real World

Posted by timothy on from the cuecat dept.

An anonymous reader submits "Semacode is a fascinating concept - it involves encoding a standard network/web URL in visual form (essentially a 2D bar code) that can be displayed in the real world for people to 'read' with semacode-enabled connected devices. The reference platform for now is the Symbian/Series 60 phone platform - specifically, the Nokia 3650 . Semacode also works with the Nokia 6600 and 7650 camera phones."

5 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Huh? by adam+mcmaster · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm guessing recognising a bunch of coloured blocks is easier than recognising handwriting.

  2. Re:CueCat by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 3, Informative

    it's a URL encoded in a 2D, non-proprietary format. It's also a plus that it's not locked up in some bullshit like the CueCat.

    The "Cues" (DigitalConvergence's special barcodes) were just regular CODE128 barcodes with the sync bars removed, so only the CueCat could read them. Other than that, perfectly standard. What's more, the CueCat could read just about any 1D barcode out there, which made it very interesting for a free toy.

    The "encryption" used by the CueCat to send codes to the computer's PS/2 port was just XOR and BASE64 encoding. Not much of an encryption really.

    The big difference with this is that the Cues were essentially links to entries in Digitalconvergence's database (which itself was just the UPC database + a bunch of special products from companies they partenered with, like RadioShack) so that they could sit between your scans and the information to collect marketting data. This on the other end seems to just be barcode-encoded URLs.

    More info on the CueCat here.

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  3. Real world uses by danharan · · Score: 4, Informative
    Everyone is comparing this to CueCat without saying why this won't work.

    The semacode website actually provides some intriguing uses for this technology. Since it is an open standard, we could think up other uses, but there are three that they mention that make sense to me:
    • transit info - nextBus
    • A web service to call a taxicab to your present location
    • ticket sales from posters (e.g. concerts)
    Cellphone prices are falling, and many people no longer even have a landline, so there could be a large market for this.

    Also, these uses don't cost much if anything. It probably will have a few niches. Can anyone else think of good applications?
    --
    Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
  4. lucky charms? by WhiteDragon · · Score: 4, Informative
    I give them credit for the attempt to make a "2d barcode" sound like it is somehow more than -- you know -- the one on my box of Lucky Charms.
    The difference is that a typical UPC (the barcode on groceries and other products) is a linear (1-dmensional) barcode. It can only store a few digits worth of information. A Matrix Code (aka 2D barcode) can store a lot more information. The article shows an example of a data matrix format code. The data matrix symbology is described at RVSI Acutity CiMatrix. It can store a large amount of data.
    --
    Did you mount a military-grade, variable-focus MASER on an unlicensed artificial intelligence?
  5. 2D Barcodes in Comparison to Traditional Ones by pneuma_66 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, all barcodes are printed in 2D space, but the 2D moniker does not mean how it is printed.

    Traditional barcodes have information encoded only in one dimension. Technically you could print a barcode in 'one dimension', however, it would be very difficult to scan. The height is only there to facilitate scanning. That is why they can be called 1D barcodes.

    2D barcodes, on the other hand, have information encoded in 2 directions. That is why instead of lines they use squares.