Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Microsoft's Barcode Scanning A.U.R.A. Called A Powerful Tool

Scanning any barcode (or 2d code) with a camera phone and connecting to targeted websites, (Physical World Connection) will indeed create power to those that recognize this next-generation Internet opportunity.


Ryan Stewart over at ZDNet discusses Microsoft's A.U.R.A camera phone barcode scanning application and says this application has the potential to be a powerful tool for consumers and developers. (I would include corporations/brands too)

I hope the A.U.R.A. project sees the light of day but it's very cool to see what Microsoft Research is working on. This has the potential to be a powerful tool for the consumer and developers (as well as stores) that can take advantage of something like this have a huge head start. I can see a broad range of barcode applications that use A.U.R.A. as a starting point and build on its solid foundation. I think this kind of interaction is one in which RIA developers need to take a long hard look.

Download the AURA mobile client here .

A.U.R.A. requires close, focused pictures of barcodes to convert the image into a decoded string. Many Windows Mobile devices have cameras that cannot focus at the close distances required by A.U.R.A. To work around this you can apply an A.U.R.A. Lens Kit to your phone. Microsoft will send a lens kit to anyone who sends a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Project A.U.R.A. Lens Kit Request
Microsoft Research, Community Technologies Group
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
United States of America

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