Microsoft's High Capacity Color Barcodes

Microsoft Corp. is getting into the business of bar codes. But these aren't your typical black-and-white stripes.

The company has developed a new type of bar code that uses multiple colors and triangular shapes to store more data per square inch than possible with the traditional approach.





Microsoft says consumers will be able to scan the high-capacity bar codes with Web cams and eventually with mobile-phone cameras. Once the bar code is read, using special software, consumers will be connected to online services that will provide extra information about the product -- such as a DVD rating, soundtrack details or related products.

The capacity of the new bar codes will depend on factors including the number of colors used and the amount of triangles squeezed into the space, Jancke said. Using four colors, at a triangle size that can be read by a good imaging device, the High Capacity Color Barcodes will hold about two times more data than traditional bar codes do. If the High Capacity Color Barcodes are designed to be read by the lower-quality cameras on mobile phones, as with the ISAN system, the capacity will be somewhat less.

More Informations:
http://research.microsoft.com/research/hccb/about.aspx
http://research.microsoft.com/research/hccb/
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2007/apr07/04-16MSBarCodePR.mspx