Data Encoding with L.E.D. Light Link

This Fujitsu technology looks like common sense in hindsight.

During a demonstration at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, a Fujitsu staffer pointed a smartphone camera at a small mannequin and a traditional Japanese woodblock print illuminated with LEDs. A special app on the smartphone, which processes the image data and extracts the ID, instantly showed product info about the mannequin and the history of the print.

It’s probably only possible now with the much faster cameras and video recording in cell phones. It’s a small amount of data right now and it’s probably really fragile and susceptible to external lighting contamination, but I think it’s pretty neat as a prototype. I’m sure the creep-factor will skyrocket once it’s deployed everywhere we take photos.