Smartpox.com
is an interesting crossover between the online and offline worlds. The
technology allows users to encode URL links, phone numbers, email, and text into
2D barcodes. These codes can then be read using a cameraphone running the J2ME
Smartpox reader. So a Smartpox is essentially a 2-dimensional barcode, which
contains data that can be decoded using the Smartpox reader in a mobile phone.
The goal of Smartpox is to be a "viral messaging" application, allowing people to link their online world with the offline world. The use case given in the demo is of music band's website, which features an audio file of one of their songs. The band members could encode the URL of that song using Smartpox.com and put it on flyers for their next show. When a Smartpox user sees the flyer, they could scan and decode the "pox" containing the song URL and listen to it on their phone. The link is also saved under that person's profile on Smartpox.com.
So Smartpox in a nutshell enables people to create encoded messages of online content - to be discovered in the offline world. There are social networking aspects to it as well, because whenever one member sees another member's Smartpox using their phone - the link is saved to their profile and they can discover who created it, read more details, and add comments when they return to the site.
I like the idea of a 'real world' hyperlink that connects something in the online world to people in the offline world. Because it requires both online signup on Smartpox.com and a camera phone with the Smartpox reader installed, it'll probably be difficult to get network effects going - unless it becomes popular in an existing social network like MySpace. But the idea has promise, particularly for the mobile phone-wielding MySpace generation. Certainly it looks like a sign of things to come, with its online-mobile-offline mix.
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I have seen this tech in use in Japan and it works awesome. Advertisers embed url of their product into print ads and users reading the magazine can use their mobile phone to scan the image and buy the product on mobile. I heard that it has triggered good impulse shopping by customers.
Posted by: Vivek | September 11, 2006 3:36 PM
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code (in relation with my previous comment)
Posted by: Vivek | September 11, 2006 3:39 PM
I wonder if this is a 'it might work this time around' idea. This idea was tried in the UK (and possibly the US) during the dot com era and it failed amazingly. With the advent of camera phones, however, it might finally work.
Posted by: Peter Cooper | September 11, 2006 4:04 PM
Wow, talk about creativity and innovation, this really is it!
On the adoption site I am not so clear... This will certainly appeal to cellular automata lovers, but the rest of the world might be turned off a bit. At the expense of having to store more information, I would recommend them to color it and make it more fun.
Alex
Posted by: Alex Iskold | September 11, 2006 4:18 PM
The idea sounds very similar to what ShotCode has been offering for a while now although I believe ShotCode only worked on print media.
Posted by: soxiam | September 11, 2006 7:27 PM
I had this idea too; promising...
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | September 11, 2006 7:38 PM
i remember semacode, which is open system.
http://semacode.org/
Posted by: dd | September 11, 2006 8:34 PM
We use this technology in Japan on our print catalogs and print advertising. We get lots of visitors to the mobile site from it. You can imbed tracking codes in each encoded URL so you can track what type of media, what publication, etc. people are coming from. I think you can actually use these on posters as well, if they are at eye-level (like in the subway).
Posted by: Kate | September 12, 2006 2:03 AM
I think the space of semacodes, smartpox, QR codes and shotcodes is a bit to big too be owned by one company. These people need to rally around a single standard (and mobile app) otherwise the technology is doomed to lead a life of obscurity.
Posted by: Tijs | September 12, 2006 2:33 AM
Way back in the dotcom era, Radio Shack in the US was giving away free barcode readers that came with software for reading barcodes. It's bugging me that I can't remember what it was called now. I've still got one at home - it was shaped like an animal. The idea was that you could pick up any product, scan it and it would take you to the appropriate website. So you scan a book, and it takes you to the author's site. Scan a can of beans, and it takes you to Heinz. And so on. It worked using existing barcodes. It was a nice idea and the hardware was free (although not widely distributed) but it never went anywhere.
Perhaps using cameras and camera phones will be more successful because the hardware's already out there. I'm not sure this is more useful than photographing a URL or writing down a phone number though. The technology reminds people that they can use their camera to capture info from an ad, but the info is in a less useful form than if they just photographed words because they need additional software to decode it. To take the example of a band pushing an MP3 through a flyer, I would have thought that providing a short URL would be by far easier for users and more successful for the band than asking people to faff around with 2D barcodes. Certainly, until the barcodes have market dominance, using them erects a massive barrier (install software) for people who might otherwise have used a URL to download the music.
Posted by: Sean at Prompt | September 12, 2006 3:37 AM
CueCat?
Posted by: po84 | September 12, 2006 4:05 AM
CueCat anyone? Bad idea.
Posted by: ffdsfvd | September 12, 2006 6:04 AM
semacode does that too, and it's open source.
I'd NEVER trust a private company to manage a crucial resource like this.
to see cool ideas made with semacode, check http://www.semapedia.org
Posted by: Nicholas | September 12, 2006 7:48 AM
Wow - What an idea. NOT.
Actually this has been done already since the 80's.
It's called a... GASP! URL!
It's a cleverly encoded piece of text you can put on print media, you can project it on a wall, you can even display it in the sand at the beach and it allows the non-computer user to instantly recognize it without any phone and interface it to their computer.
Here's what they look like now!
http://www.imaurl.com/
Just replace imaurl with your own made up name and walla! Done!
You can even just say:
imaurl.com and people get it!
wow - what a concept!
I'm sure it will spread like wildfire....
Posted by: Mr biggles | September 12, 2006 9:35 AM
I installed both Semacode and Smartpox on my phone, and they work interchangably.
meaning, they both decode the information in these barcodes the same. the Smartpox reader seems to work with codes generated from http://sohne.net/projects/semafox and the Semacode reader works with codes from Smartpox.com.
so, it looks like both are following the same Data Matrix standard. I think in Japan they use QR code instead, but as far as a standard for the US goes, DM makes sense.
Posted by: Shoe Puke | September 12, 2006 9:58 AM
Mr. Biggles:
Walla? Try voila.
If you're going to be an arrogant condescending prick, it really makes you look like a moron when you don't even know how to spell the words you use.
Posted by: JackCroww | September 12, 2006 10:49 AM
That is by far the worst name for a technology I have ever encountered! Why not call it SpotAids or CompuFlu or E-Ebola instead?
Jeez. Really. Very, very bad.
Posted by: Lonny Eachus | September 12, 2006 11:21 AM
Yes, i think it was CueCat! It was a blue plastic cat that scanned barcodes. The one I'm thinking of I don't think was for regular barcodes tho, and I don't remember the Radio Shack connection with the CueCat. I got it thru the mail. There were some CueCat barcodes in Wired magazine I think. I never saw another one. Must have died out pretty quick.
Posted by: Chris | September 12, 2006 7:38 PM
Here are some contenders in that area (from europe) that are on my phone right now:
Off-topic:
By far the coolest app on my S60 is Racoon: Nokia's port of Apache 2.0 (including mod_python). Extreme geek factor right
now, but triggering a phot of the cam by a simple http request ;-). Haven't read much about that.
Posted by: gkamp | September 13, 2006 3:12 AM
Instead of making the software recognize the barcode, why not have it OCR and find a URL? That way you have both a tech solution and a human readable one.
Posted by: Bill | September 13, 2006 4:00 PM