Camera Phone Scanning World

Simple Act is now offering free software called QuickMark for WebCam which will enable your PC webcam to read QR Codes and Datamatrix Codes.   Simply download and install the software on your PC and you can scan QR and Datamatrix Codes.   The QuickMark press release indicates that it is integrated with Windows Live Barcode, but the Live Barcode site has been down for the last few days, so I have not been able to test it.

I did download and install the QuickMark for WebCam software and tested it in conjunction with my Logitech QuickCam Fusion webcam.  

With the software installed, I launched the QuickMark WebCam application.  A small window opened showing my webcam screen.   I held a QR Code with a URL link embedded about 3 inches from the camera and after 3-5 seconds the webcam captured the code, opened my web browser and took me directly to that link.  It does work as advertised, but it is certainly much slower than the laser at the grocery store reads my frozen pizza UPC code.

Next I tested QuickMark ability to integrate with Microsoft Outlook.  I created a contact information QR code here, aimed my webcam at the code that I generated right on my monitor, and automagically QuickMark created an entry in my Outlook contacts.  Now that is impressive!

This free product and QuickMark’s code reading cell phone software get the job done, but there appears to be no documentation for any of its products in English (although there is an English version of QuickMark’s site).  The documentation is all in Chinese.  Until more North American and European products come to market, QuickMark is offering some impressive (and free) solutions in the consumer code reading space.  Give it a try!

The Windows Live Barcode site has been down for several days now.  Does anyone know what happened?

Most cell phones in Japan come with camera phone code readers already pre-installed.  In order for the rest of us to enable our camera phones to read QR Codes and Datamatrix Codes, we need to find and install the correct code reading application.   Unfortunately one size does not fit all.  Different phone makes and models require different applications.   To make this process easier, I have put together a set of instructions for enabling your phone to read codes for free for the makes and models below.   I will expand this list as I come across more supported mobile phones.

Motorola

V3X

Nokia

3230

3650

3660

6280

6600

6630

6670

6680

6681

6682

7610

7650

N70

N90

Siemens

SX1

SonyEricsson

K300i

K610i

K750i

K800i

V800

W300i

W800i

W810i

Z520i

Windows Mobile

HTC TyTN (also known as Hermes, Cingular 8525, Vodafone VPA Compact III, Vodafone 1605, and the T-Mobile MDA Vario II).

I just ran across a great project called Semapedia (not to be confused with Semacode).  Their goal is to “connect the virtual and physical world by bringing the right information from the Internet to the relevant place in physical space.”  More specifically they aim to bring the knowledge from Wikipedia into the physical world.

In practice the organization encourages people to encode Datamatrix and QR Code two-dimensional barcodes with links to information on Wikipedia, Wikinews, Wikibooks, and Wikisource.  The codes are are then placed in places, on people, etc, in the real world allowing code reading enabled camera cell-phones to scan the links and have their phone’s browser take them directly to the appropriate Wikipedia page.

The site has a great deal of information about the project and the underlying technology that is amazingly clear and well written.  The technical level of the site seems to be perfectly aimed at the tech savvy, but not technical audience. 

Semapedia has a great Google Earth/Flickr mash-up allowing people to post their Semapedia codes.  They also have a tool to help users find the appropriate software for a number of different mobile phone manufacturers and models.

via Thinkmobi

Datamatrix codes are two-dimensional codes (barcodes) that can be encoded with data and read by barcode readers and more recently by code reading enabled mobile camera phones.

The Datamatrix code was invented by RVSI Acuity CiMatrix and is now an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 16022).   Datamatrix code is in the public domain and may be freely used without licensing or royalties.

Datamatrix codes are widely used in the electronics industry to label parts.  They are also used in a number of other business and industrial markets including postal and packaging services.

Datamatrix codes are also used in the consumer market as one of several standards which allow consumers to use their camera phones to capture codes which contain data that is decoded by mobile phones to direct users to web sites, send emails, send SMS’s, and provide users textual information.

Other consumer two-dimensional barcode varieties include: QR Code, Semacode, mCode, and ShotCode.

Glass is free camera phone application created by HP Labs in Bristol, UK that enables a number of Nokia camera phones and the Siemens SX1 phone to read QR Codes and Datamatrix codes.

From the ActivePrint project web site here is a note about the supported phones:

Glass is designed for Series 60 camera phones with texting (SMS) and web (WAP, HTTP) connectivity. Due to issues with firmware implementations on some Series 60 handsets, Glass is currently available only for the following handsets:

• Nokia 3650, 3660, 6600, 6630, 6670, 6680, 7610, 7650, N70, N90
• Siemens SX1

The ActivePrint site offers clear documentation and a wealth of additional information on the project, the technology, and the phone application.

I don’t have a Nokia Series 60 phone so I can’t give Glass a try.   It would be great if someone who has given Glass a try could share their experience in the comments here.

Helsinki University is conducting ongoing research on what they call “connecting print products to digital content”.   Their project report is a refreshingly sober look at the technology dispensing all the media hype around consumer barcode technologies.

Here is a brief description of the PrintAccess project from the web site:

“The research covers also the use of different types of code information and alternative printing methods in producing the print products, the reading and identification of the code information with camera-equipped devices, and the utilization of the code detection as an access mechanism.”