Another technology to bridge print to digital. This one relies on Printers to embed an “invisible electronic code” during the printing process. So many new techs emerging now claiming to replace QR codes, but the market (or the consumers) are going to have to drive what ultimately wins out. I can’t imagine seeing an ad or display that is QR, iPR, NFC, AR and Touchcode enabled… but I have been known to suggest in the US market, more is always more.
Now, on a cool thing note, you should check out the video. A little before the end, you can choose doors directly on the video that lead to other videos. I’ve never seen that before!
Forget QR codes: Your touchscreen can “read” this ink
Ever since the smartphone era began, companies have looked for ways to quickly get information from the offline product world onto the phone. Barcode scanning is a popular approach while QR codes and proprietary tags, such as those from Microsoft, are other less-used solutions. These all require cameras and specifically printed codes; what if we could just use what looks like a standard ink solution and the touchscreen on our phones?
That’s exactly the idea behind Printechnologic’s Touchcode; the German company has developed an electronic print product with interactivity. Printed material using Touchcode technology looks no different than a standard print product, is recyclable and can be used on a range of products, such as tickets, food items, business cards, or nearly anything that you can put ink on. A customizable electronic code embedded in the print process interacts with a phone’s capacitive screen, much like your fingers do, giving the handset a web address or file download, for example.
Here’s how the company describes it: “Touchcode is an invisible electronic code printed on paper, cardboard, film or labels. Just put the product on the display of your smartphone/tablet/multitouch device to read the data – no matter if you’d like to confirm the authenticity of your brand product or make your card game come to life. With Touchcode, you add interactivity to just about any product.”
It’s a simply elegant solution and takes advantage of the growing number of touchscreen devices in the mobile market. DisplaySearch estimates that 2011 saw 566 million touch screen shipments for mobile phones, with rapid expansion going forward. Here’s an interactive video demo showing how Touchcode works and explaining the many possibilities for the product:
Continues at: Forget QR codes: Your touchscreen can “read” this ink — Mobile Technology News.
