Canada’s National Post newspaper has began using two-dimensional (2D) bar codes this week to link newspaper articles to video and other content, similar to redirecting a URL.
The link from paper to the Web is made possible through Scanbuy’s free downloadable mobile app for smartphones. When the camera phone takes a picture of the bar code, the application reads the embedded information in the code, triggers a Web browser, and serves up the page on the phone.
National Post hopes to offer advertisers a print ad service that gives consumers options to discover more information about products and services on the Web. Parent Canwest Publishing is the largest media company in Canada.
In the past few months, Scanbuy has signed deals with telecom carriers such as Alltel and Sprint, which will soon begin to ship handsets with the 2D bar code readers preloaded on phones. Today, the software is available on 45 phones.
2D barcodes contain more information than conventional one dimensional linear barcodes. Conventional barcodes get wider as more data is encoded. 2D barcodes make use of the vertical dimension to pack in more data. Scanlife lets you create a free personal account to create your own EZcodes. SourceForge has lots of open source 2D barcode applications.
Put a 2D barcode every 1000 feet along your favorite bike trail. Link it to a website.
Yellow Arrow is a global public art project of local experiences. Combining stickers, mobile phones and an international community, Yellow Arrow transforms the urban landscape into a “deep map” that expresses the personal histories and hidden secrets that live within our everyday spaces.
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