Toolkit for bar code recognition and resolving on camera phones - jump starting the Internet of things

Abstract

Automatic identification technology such as RFID promises to connect physical objects with virtual representations or even computational capabilities. However, 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 mobile 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.