Object Hyperlinking: The Internet in the Real World

by Sean Cairns

Imagine you're standing in the appliance isle of your favorite store, trying in vain to decide between two seemingly identical blenders. According to the brief fact-sheet accompanying each device, their basic statistics are the same, the price is the same, even their overall aesthetic appeal is identical. Wouldn't it be great if there was some way to quickly read product reviews on both of them so that you can make an informed purchase?

Of course you could whip out your iPhone (or any portable device with an internet connection) and perform a Google search on each product, but navigating your way through the myriad of results to find a legitimate product review site might not seem like the best way to spend your time while in the store.

Now, imagine all you have to do is activate an app on your phone, scan a small black and white pattern (conveniently located next to the price) with your camera, and instantly navigate to the store's webpage on that exact product, complete with product reviews. Not only does this simplify your access to pertinent information, but also helps you make an informed purchase right there on the spot. That's a big win for you, and also for the store that's providing you this information. This is Object Hyperlinking.

Overview

As we all know, the internet only exists within the realm of the electronic world. The idea behind Object Hyperlinking is to "extend the Internet to the real world". This is accomplished by using any of a number of tagging systems to attach a URL to a physical object or location in our physical world.

As of now, there are a number of different categories of tagging systems. A RFID (radio frequency identification device) tag consists of a tiny transponder, which can be read at a short distance by the receiving device. These devices are tiny, but require the user to have access to a RFID receiver, and to be within a typically small radius of the device. SMS tags are a short alphanumeric code, which can be easily written or printed anywhere. Using text messaging, the alphanumeric code is sent to the designated SMS recipient and returns a message (which could be a URL, further information, or a number to call for customer assistance). Virtual tags have no actual physical tag, instead relying on the Global Positioning System (GPS) included in some mobile devices. When the user is near a particular location or landmark, the phone can offer further information to the user, simply based on where they are standing. Finally, graphical tags (as used in the example above) are images that provide a user with encoded information which their mobile devices can decode. It is these graphical tags that are of particular interest to the future of Object Hyperlinking.

There are a fair number of different types of these graphical tags, each with their own standards, level of error correction, data limits, and licenses. All of these systems are based on a 2-dimensional bar-code that can be read by a portable device's camera and converted into information. In the case of Object Hyperlinking, this information is a URL, which is sent to the device's web browser and opened as a website. Just as easily, this information could be someone's contact information (instead of a business card), plain text, a calendar event, phone number, or SMS message, among a few others.

Microsoft is currently developing a proprietary 2-D barcode called the High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB), colloquially known as a "Microsoft Tag", which uses a series of black, magenta, cyan, and yellow triangles to encode data. This next-generation is a few years off from being practical in the consumer market, however. Most modern graphical tagging systems use a simple monochromatic scheme in a basic grid, including the Aztec Code, Ezcode, MaxiCode, and QR Code. Of these, I feel the QR Code merits a closer look.

A QR Code that links to Central States' Website

QR Codes

The QR, or Quick response Code was created in 1994 by a Japaneese company called Denso-Wave. Initially intended for tracking individual parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes quickly became a common sight in Japan, linking everything from movie posters, magazines, and billboards directly to the internet. Its popularity there is such that upon releasing the Android operating system, Google included the native ability to read QR codes using the built-in ZXing barcode scanner. Nokia's Symbian operating system includes a similar barcode reader with the same ability.

The QR Code is especially useful, as there is no license required to use it; users can find many websites with automated QR generators that can be saved or printed out on the spot, making Object Hyperlinking available to everyone, not just the tech-savvy and large corporations. Even little mom-and-pop shops can have a direct link to their website on their receipts if they so desire, and a link to the manufacturer's page next to each item in their store. As stated above, this ease of access to information would lead customers to feel confident in their purchases, and encourage them to complete their purchase during that trip to the store!

Future

Right now in the United States, there is no real standard Object Hyperlinking system in place, which makes it difficult for any one user to be guaranteed that their mobile device will be able to scan and decode every type of code encountered. Hopefully this will quickly change as the internet becomes a larger and larger part of the life of the average consumer.