Justin at MoPocket alerts us to iBuyRight and their soon to be released tool for camera phones.
iBuyRight is the code name for a suite of applications currently being developed by a team at UC Berkeley to deliver social, environmental, and health information about products at the point of purchase.
"After a product bar code is scanned with a cameraphone, iBuyRight retrieves relevant information from a social and environmental issues database, then displays it on the cell phone screen in an easy-to-read format."
These tools radically transform the information available to consumers on the impacts of the products they buy. Our tools empower consumers to screen and compare products based on their personal values and concerns through the presentation of detailed information about products, companies, and brands.
This information is presented in easy-to-understand ratings and detailed descriptions. We believe these consumer information tools hold the potential to empower literally millions of concerned consumers to buy products that better represent their values.
A beta version of the iBuyRight tool for camera phones will be released soon.
1 comment:
This is interesting.. but for the consumer, I think the most valuable information on a product that is not readily available at the point of purchase is how much it sells for at other stores (price comparisons), and how other consumers perceive the product (consumer ratings). Along these lines, Toshiba's research labs recently developed an application which uses product barcode scanning with cellphones to retrieve prices and consumers' comments from the blogosphere, and automatically aggregates the words into numerical ratings.
See http://www.toshiba.co.jp/rdc/rd/detail_j/0601_01.htm
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