Toolkit for bar code recognition and resolving on camera phones - jump starting the Internet of things
Robert Adelmann, Marc Langheinrich, Christian Floerkemeier · 2006
Abstract: Automatic identification technology such as RFID promises to connect physical objects with virtual representations or even computational capabilities. How-ever, even though RFID tags are continuously falling in price, their widespread use on consumer items is still several years away, rendering large-scale experiments with such an “internet of things ” difficult. Much more ubiquitous are printed bar codes, yet so far their recognition required either specialized scanner equipment, custom-tailored bar codes or costly commercial licenses – all equally significant deployment hurdles. We have developed a freely available EAN-13 bar code recognition and information system that is both lightweight and fast enough for the use on camera-equipped mo-bile phones, thus significantly lowering the barrier for large-scale, real-world testing of novel information and interaction applications based on “connected ” physical objects. We hope that this “low tech ” version of bridging the gap will allow the community to quickly develop and try out more realistic and widespread applications, and thus gain real-world experiences for better jump-starting the future internet of things, today. 1 Today’s Role of Barcode Recognition