Symbology is a term used in automatic identification (barcodes, biometrics, RFID, and etc.) to describe a process nature of communication and recognition. This process nature of DIGITAL communication and recognition is also used in every day life and aids in the immediacy of communicative understanding. Symblogogy attempts to share stories of this DIGITAL communicative understanding, found on all levels (including AI tool modified), that may enhance communications in everyday life.
Internet Buzz Words: Micro Blogging, Web 2.0, Technology, Connectivity, Social Networks, facebook, twitter, Marketing, Media. Image Credit: vpkillazz.com
Power To The Online People
Where were you when news of the tsunami hit Japan in 2011?
How about when Michael Jackson died?
Probably online, according to many experts who claim that social media has become the main media source for hundreds of millions of people. Not just in the U.S., either; Facebook alone has more than 900 million users spread across the globe as of 2012.
Other social media giants like Twitter have facilitated revolution against unjust leaders and warned people of impending natural disaster. In fact, so many people regularly interact online that if the Internet were a nation, it would exceed the Americas, Europe and the Middle East combined in population.
No wonder more than 13 million members of the online community used Reddit and other media platforms to protest SOPA, a proposed Internet censorship bill. Keep this graphic in mind next time you log on, because knowledge is power — and a little knowledge goes a long way in the Internet Age.
Power to all the people who communicate and become informed ... ONLINE!
Savi Corporation's DynoValve Kit Packaging - The DynoValve takes the functioning of the mechanical Positive Crankcase Valve process and brings the process evolution to its maximum effectiveness. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)
Motor Press Guild's Track Day is a time each year where journalists who have a focus on transportation technology and culture come together with the major automobile manufacturers to find out what is new for the next year's (2011) selling season. Any company who believes they have something to contribute to the event and wish to gain exposure to 150 plus people who write and another 100 or so people who market transportation platforms may end up presenting their solutions as an exhibitor or sponsor to the event ... Savi Corporation was one such company.
After over a half a decade of research and development, testing, and working with various environmental agencies, Savi Corporation was able to introduce its "smart" Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) valve to the world at last month’s 60th Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance ... the DynoValve. The DynoValve replaces the mechanical PCV Valve found as original manufacture on all engines and takes the functioning of this environmentally useful process to a higher, more efficient level.
Pictured - The DynoValve computer-controlled valve on top with the mechanical PCV valve on bottom. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)
This excerpted and edited from Wikipedia -
As an engine operates, high-pressure gases are contained within the combustion chamber and prevented from passing into the crankcase (containing the crankshaft and other parts) between the side of the piston and the cylinder bore by piston rings which seal against the cylinder. However, some amount of gas always leaks past the piston rings into the crankcase. This amount is very small in a new or properly rebuilt engine, provided that the piston rings and cylinder walls are correctly "broken in", and increases as the engine wears. Scratches on the cylinder walls or piston rings, such as those caused by foreign objects entering the engine, can cause large amounts of leakage. This leaked gas is known as blow-by because the pressure within the cylinders blows it by the piston rings. If this blow-by gas could not escape then pressure would build up within the crankcase.
Before the invention of crankcase ventilation in 1928, the engine oil seals were designed to withstand this pressure, oil leaking to the road surface was accepted, and the dipstick was screwed in. The hydrocarbon rich gas would then diffuse through the oil in the seals into the atmosphere. Subsequently, it became an emissions requirement as well as a functional necessity that the crankcase have a ventilation system. This [system] must maintain the crankcase at slightly less than atmospheric pressure under light load conditions and recycle the blow-by gas back into the engine intake.
However, due to the constant circulation of the oil within the engine, along with the high speed movement of the crankshaft, an oil mist is also passed through the PCV system and into the intake. The oil is then either burned during combustion, or settles along the intake tract, causing a gradual build-up of residue inside the inlet path. For this reason many engine tuners choose to replace the PCV system with an oil catch can and breather filter which vents the blow-by gases directly to atmosphere and retains the oil in a small tank (or returns it to the sump), although this technically fails to meet most engine emission legislation. Reference Here>>
The DynoValve takes the functioning of the mechanical Positive Crankcase Valve process from a spring loaded plug, door, or flap that is opened and closed through the variance in pressure from one side of the door to the other and regulates the opening and closing based upon electronic signals and computer commands that even out the performance and brings the process evolution to its maximum effectiveness.
Many claims as to the benefits of this computerized DynoValve system process center around two major areas. It is GREEN and it makes one's vehicle more fuel efficient.
The DynoValve is GREEN because it allows for a greater, more complete burning of the fuel and other materials in the cylinder of the engine due to the increased breath-ability of the engine itself. The carbon particulate matter from the fuel and the gasses from the crankcase being more effectively burned, along with the catalytic converter, knocks the emissions to a nearly un-measurable level.
The GREEN and fuel efficient Hummer H2 stretch limousine with DynoValve. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)
The DynoValve is more fuel efficient due to the fact the fuel is being burned more thoroughly because of the computerized DynoValve system process, a greater level of power is delivered by the engine so the performance is enhanced and less gas pedal is required to achieve the same performance results. An increase in the vehicle's gas consumption performance in miles per gallon of 30% is not unrealistic. One limousine company has documented an increase in MPG performance by as much as 300% under some specific driving conditions and a 200% increase is common.
This begs the question "Can this be tested and an article be developed by one of the journalists who became aware of the DynoValve at MPG Track Day to show the results one might be able to achieve on an everyday pick-up truck?"
The F250 "test-bed". Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)
The installation happened yesterday on a 1995 Ford F250 XLT, 7.5 litre/460 cubic inch V8 powered pick-up that had 55,488.6 original miles on it at the time of install. The truck pretty much averages 10 miles per gallon and there had been times the truck did achieve 12 mpg but these were times where one was traveling out of the San Bernardino Mountains and traveled on the freeway at reduced speeds.
It was discovered during the install procedure that there was a couple of breeches in the truck's vacuum hose array which had the pressure measuring around 17 lbs. (normal pressure is about 20 lbs.). After installation of the DynoValve and the replacement of the compromised hoses, the operation of the truck's PCV vacuum system was restored back to 20 lbs. (full slideshow here).
Installed DynoValve. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)
This posting will be the first of a series of articles spawned from the testing of Savi Corporation's computerized DynoValve system process installed on this writer's 1995 Ford F250 XLT, 7.5 liter/460 cubic inch V8 powered pick-up truck.
eCoupled Technology is powering at least nine items depicted in this graphic - can you name them (hint - one of the applications is mounted in the celing)? Image Credit: Fulton Innovation
Imagine A World Without Wires – From Milliwatts To Kilowatts
An innovation that has been in development for years is now ready for the general use consumer market – wireless, plugless power for everyone.
Power up anything that requires electricity to run from cellphones, radios, television sets, and even food blenders by just placing a compatible device over an inducer coil and voila … wireless electricity!
The process is called eCoupled technology™ and it is being introduced by Fulton Innovation, LLC. It uses a specially developed and smart inducing coil embedded in a surface as in a kitchen counter or workshop table and transfers electrical power via dynamic resonance.
This excerpted and edited from Fulton Innovation –
What Is eCoupled Technology? eCoupled technology™ is intelligent wireless power. It changes the way that people and devices interact with power and data.
eCoupled technology enables low-cost, efficient wireless power. It dynamically seeks resonance and optimizes power transfer under multiple, varying load conditions and spatial configurations. It can be utilized essentially anywhere traditional power needs exist. It is a revolutionary advancement in the utility of inductive coupling for consumer and commercial applications, unleashing a new world of creative options - power and data can be efficiently transmitted to virtually any electrical device without traditional constraints.
eCoupled technology includes an inductively coupled power circuit that dynamically seeks resonance, allowing the primary supply circuit to adapt its operation to match the needs of the devices it supplies. It does so by communicating with each device individually in real time, which allows the technology to determine not only power needs, but also factors such as the age of a battery or device and its charging lifecycles, in order to supply the optimal amount of power to keep a device at peak efficiency.
eCoupled technology overcomes the limitations of spatial rigidity, static loads and unacceptable power losses. It intelligently adapts to multiple loads - from milliwatts to kilowatts - and spatial configurations while maximizing energy transfer efficiencies by as much as 98%, making eCoupled technology comparable to hardwired connections in terms of energy costs.
eCoupled technology's smart approach provides one of the safest operating systems in the marketplace. Through its identification protocol, eCoupled technology has the ability to authenticate any eCoupled-enabled device within range. If a device or object is not recognized immediately, the primary coil will NOT turn on and supply power to it, maintaining a safe operating environment. Reference Here>>
Image Credit: Fulton Innovation
This may have positive implications in the enterprise mobility applications such as route accounting systems or field communications applications. Printers, computers, cameras, and portable datacollectors can be powered and/or charged directly from the vehicle platform from where the mobile function is carried out.
Image Credit: Work Truck Online
And this excerpted and edited from Work Truck Online -
Leggett & Platt Wins New Product Innovation Award at The Work Truck Show 2008 Work Truck Online - National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Convention
Image Credit: Work Truck Online
Leggett & Platt Commercial Vehicle Products has won The Work Truck Show 2008 New Product Innovation Award for its mobile workspace shelving, storage areas, rugged docking stations, and vehicle mounts featuring eCoupled technology. Leggett’s use of eCoupled technology transforms ordinary vehicle work and storage surfaces into wireless charging centers, eliminating the need for portable charging devices and electrical outlets. ---- As part of an exclusive partnership with Fulton Innovation, the creators of eCoupled technology, Leggett will integrate the technology into its vehicle interior shelving systems, rugged docking stations, and vehicle mounts. The company’s eCoupled-equipped products debuted at the Work Truck Show 2008 and will hit the market in 2009.
Wireless power uses inductive coupling to transfer energy from Leggett’s commercial charging surfaces to any eCoupled-compatible device. Coils strategically placed in the surface areas adapt eCoupled technology’s operation to match the needs of the devices it powers. Reference Here>>
So go ahead, its OK to clean-up the enterprise mobility workspace, kitchen, or office of electrical cords and power supplies with a shot of inductive transfer technology from Fulton Innovation.
Fingerprint points used to identify the unique qualities of ones biometric fingerprint pattern. Image Credit: L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc.
Fingerprint Biometric System Delivers A Sound Solution
When most people think of a machine that scans ones finger in order to gain entry to documents or a place, they think to themselves “well, this is a little like a page scanner capturing text from a document” … and most solutions feature this type of reflective image capture process.
A new process is beginning to find its way into applications that would greatly improve the development of the fingerprint image captured. The technology applied is “Ultrasound” and this approach has some significant advantages over a standard scan approach.
For example, oily, wet or dirty fingers won't be an issue any more when it comes to capturing accurate fingerprints, according to L-1 Identity Solutions, which announced a partnership to produce a fingerprint scan using high frequency sound waves, the same technology used in the medical profession.
Excerpts from SecureID News -
L-1 Identity Solutions and Ultra-Scan develop new live scan device based on ultrasonic imaging Chris Corum, SecureID News - Wednesday, September 12, 2007
STAMFORD, Conn. -- L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. announced a partnership with Ultra-Scan Corporation for the development and supply of a revolutionary new live scan biometric fingerprint reader based on ultrasonic imaging technology.
Capturing biometric fingerprint images with high frequency sound waves that are immune to surface conditions extends fingerprint total image accuracy into conditions where it has not been possible before with other scanning technologies. Further, the new device is expected to be significantly smaller and lighter than any solution on the market today. If successful, ultrasonic imaging represents a possible paradigm shift that could supplement or replace optical fingerprint sensors for a number of biometric capture applications. ---- “Ultra-Scan's fingerprint technology is pushing the science of biometrics to yet another level of performance which will have a broader range of application,” said Robert V. LaPenta, Chairman, President and CEO of L-1 Identity Solutions. “Additionally, utilizing the new, ultrasonic solid state technology developed and patented by Ultra-Scan, these new devices could provide a smaller form factor for mobile and fixed applications, as well as offer a higher level of reliability and ruggedness than presently available.” ---- Sound Waves Improve the Ability to Capture Fingerprints in Many Applications and Conditions
Fingerprint image developed through reflective light capture optical scanning technology. Image Credit: Ultra Scan Product Brochure
Operating much like a photo copier, optical scanners work well for capturing fingerprint images by taking a photo of the fingerprints placed on the glass surface. ---- Fingerprint image developed through the ultrasonic scan engine developed and patented by Ultra Scan. Image Credit: Ultra Scan Product Brochure
Ultra-Scan’s technology, which works similar to medical ultrasound, effectively images through “real-world” contamination found on the finger or built up on the platen surface, to always capture a detailed image of the fingerprints being scanned. This low power device will withstand high degrees of shock and vibration making it ideal for a wide variety of applications. Reference Here>>
Albertson's - Coming of age in an internet world. Image Credit: W=UH
Corporate Culture (and technology) Gone Wrong
Let’s be honest … when a company invests improperly in technology that would have allowed them to compete on an equal footing with the other players in the marketplace the worst things can happen.
Albertson’s never had a clue that after it purchased Lucky Stores that it now had to finally jump into the “discount club” fray along with Ralph’s and Vons. The management put off the decision for the longest time but finally had to submit to the competitive pressure.
The problem was that they bought off on technology that was "on the cheap"! The loyalty/discount cards they had purchased placed the unique barcode information for each customer on the surface of the plastic that the card or key-fob was made of … as opposed to having the image embedded or otherwise protected by the plastic cover.
The barcode information began to rub off immediately upon issue and after awhile became unreadable by the barcode reader. This left the job to the cashier who had to manually enter the data in order to allow the customer to accrue loyalty points and achieve a discount.
It gets worse – Albertson’s will now totally abandon the “discount/loyalty” program with the excuse (spin) that they are opening up the discounts to everyone … sound familiar? It should. That is what they told all of the shoppers as the excuse as to why they did not have a loyalty program … just after they had purchased Lucky Stores.
Really, this is about corporate culture and how it can go all wrong.
"IF KEYS ARE FOUND, PLEASE RETURN TO NEAREST ALBERTSON'S STORE" - Image Credit: This Is Broken
News Item from The Salt Lake Tribune -
No more 'Preferred Card' at Albertsons The Salt Lake Tribune - Article Last Updated: 06/20/2007 01:39:55 PM MDT
Posted: 1:27 PM - Albertsons stores are ending their "Preferred Card" program at 78 Southwest stores.
The Arizona Republic reports today that instead, the chain will offer discounted items to everyone.
"Our objective is to give all the consumers in the marketplace the same great deals irregardless of having to have a loyalty card," said Bob Colgrove, Albertsons Southwest division president.
Other supermarkets and grocers, including Safeway, Fry's and Bashas', said this week that they don't plan to follow Albertsons' lead and will keep their cards. Reference Here>>
That's because their (Safeway, Fry's, and Bashas') cards work.
By the way, never listen to anyone who uses “IRREGARDLESS” … it (irregardless) is NOT a word. Just as a barcode is not a barcode when it can be, or becomes mushed.
Eyebox2 - The system uses an array of infrared LEDs and a 1.3 megapixel digital camera to monitor eye movements. The camera has higher resolution than most eye-tracking systems, and can easily pick out the distinctive infrared signature from a pair of human pupils from up to 10 metres. It can also track several people at once and can determine their gaze from four metres away to within 15 degrees. Image Credit: New Scientist
I Always Feel Like Someone Is Watching Me
When you are out in the crowd, looking around, you know, to see what is going on and to see what information is available, did you ever stop to think that the people who are displaying that information are looking right back at you?
They want to know what you are doing and if their information is sinking in!
They really are looking right into your eyes … well, tracking your eyes to try to understand your behavior. They are asking themselves, “Aren't our billboards pretty enough?” and “What is your problem, you didn’t even give us a gaze ... or a glance!”
This from the New Scientist -
Tracking billboards could give you the eyeball Tom Simonite - NewScientist.com news service - 14:11 09 May 2007
A camera that monitors eye movements from up to 10 metres away makes it possible for smart billboards that track the attention of passers-by.
The developers behind the technology – dubbed Eyebox2 – believe it could have a range of possible applications, but should particularly interest advertisers. This is because it allows billboards to track people's attention and perhaps respond when it wanes.
Until now, eye-tracking systems have only worked over about half a metre.
"It's less accurate than those systems, but it is good enough to let us know whether you are looking at a display or billboard or not," says lead developer Roel Vertegaal from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. ---- Distance benefits
Most eye tracking devices monitor people while they use a computer. This can reveal, for example, which parts of a picture or a web page they are focusing on (see The mind ogles: Women are worse).
Being able to track gazes over greater distances opens up several new possibilities, according to Vertegaal. Space on advertising screens in public places could be sold "by the eyeball", he suggests. Or, the products in a store that get the most glances could be recorded.
"We are launching with the advertising market in mind, but there are many other applications," Vertegaal told New Scientist. The team has also tested it as a means of controlling a home entertainment system. "When you stop looking at the screen for a time, the image pauses until you are looking back again," Vertegaal says.
Focusing attention
And, another project involves making hearing aids function more effectively through eye tracking. "When you are looking at someone you automatically filter out other noise to hear what they are saying," Vertegaal says. "[Similarly] an eye tracker could tell a hearing aid what to focus on."
Vertegaal and colleagues have created a company, called Xuuk, to develop and market Eyebox2 commercially.
Linden Ball, a psychologist at Lancaster University in the UK, uses eye tracking to study human-computer interaction. He says such a system could perhaps provide a more natural way to control things on a large display. "If the accuracy is great enough, this technology might make eye tracking one way of doing that," he says.
Ball adds that advertisers already use eye-tracking technology to monitor the way people respond to adverts presented on a computer screen. "They could get similar data in a more natural environment," he says. "For example, which posters people attend to, how long they look for, whether they take in the whole thing, and the effect of logos or dynamic information like animations." Reference Here>>
The phone can read invisible images on printed paper. Image Credit: BBC NEWS
Subliminal Advertising With A PWC/PWH Twist
And you thought this digital … phone connection (hyperlink) stuff would never catch up with you.
Fujitsu has been working on a way (whitepaper PDF released July 2005) by which printed materials like advertisements, articles and other printed communications could lend themselves to be more effective and connected at the same time.
In a process called Steganography, Fujitsu has perfected a method whereby a reference barcode or QR Code can be embedded in a photo or other printed article and the reader of this printed material would be able to take a photo with his cellphone camera and instantly be connected (via physical world connection or hyperlink - PWC or PWH) to a website for additional information.
A hidden latent image is placed within the printed material that the human eye cannot see but the camera could pick-up and decode for additional functionality.
Excerpts from BBC NEWS -
Hiding messages in plain sight Steganography can be embedded as part of the normal printing process BBC NEWS - Last Updated: Thursday, 15 February 2007, 07:35 GMT
A technology that can "hide" information in plain sight on printed images has begun to see the first commercial applications.
Japanese firm Fujitsu is pushing a technology that can encode data into a picture that is invisible to the human eye but can be decoded by a mobile phone with a camera. ---- "The concept is to be able to link the printed page into the digital domain," said Mike Nelson, general manager for sales operations at Fujitsu Europe.
The technique stems from a 2,500-year-old practice called steganography, which saw the Greeks sending warnings of attacks on wooden tablets and then covering them in wax and tattooing messages on shaved heads that were then covered by the regrowth of hair.
Fujitsu's technique works by taking advantage of the sensitivities of the human eye, which struggles to see the colour yellow.
"The key is to take the yellow hue in the picture and we skew that ever so slightly to create a pattern," said Mr Nelson.
"A camera is perfectly sensitive to that yellow hue but the human eye doesn't see it very well.
"Any camera, even those in mobile phones, can decode it very easily."
Pictures printed with the technique look perfectly normal but a camera can see the code printed into the image.
Screen image taken from a PDF whitepaper issued by Fujitsu titled "Steganography - Code Recognition Technology. Graphic example of how the PWH/Steganographic process works. Image Credit: Fujitsu PDF via ecj photo ---- That data could be a phone number, a message or a website link.
Printed materials can then connect to the online world by storing information which tells the phone to connect the web.
Almost any mobile phone can be used but a small java application must be downloaded before it can be used to decode the information. Other devices such as PDAs with a camera could also be used. ---- Once installed the same program can be used to read other codes on other products. It takes a few seconds for the phone to decipher the data.
And because most modern mobiles can connect to the net they act as a gateway to content that firms want to send to people who have decoded the steganographic pictures, such as music and video.
The first commercial use of the technology is in Japan where a Music Club has embedded codes into flyers it sends to subscribers. ---- Mr Nelson believes the technology is more useful than barcodes because of its invisibility and because it connects printed matter to the internet, via the phone.
"There's a lot of printed material out there today whether it be food wrappers, billboards, catalogues, phone directories and business cards and they are not going to go away. ---- "We need an added dimension to that flat material and linking that to the digital domain is what we are trying to do."
Mr Nelson does not believe steganography is competing with technologies such as RFID tags, tiny radio chips which can hold information and be scanned at a short distance.
"You have to physically mount a chip into the device - it's expensive and time consuming.
"Steganography can be embedded as part of the normal printing process."
Mr Nelson said he believed promotions and competition would drive take up of the technology as a prize would act as an incentive to use a mobile phone and download the decoding application. Read All>>
Normal PM Code with data memory capability uses 8-24 colors. Memory ranges from about 0.6MB~1.8MB (4,083,264 figures). Image Credit: C.I.A.
QR Based PM Code - The Best 3D Symbology Ever, Really!
And it is a 5th Generation Media symbology known as the PM Code. With this printed symbology one can use a simple cellphone with a camera and unleash incredible variants of communication ranging from simple data, to sound, to video … all at the snap of a camera button on the phone.
In the worlds of automatic identification and information technology, the question of what is the best machine-readable information-packed symbology ever has been answered ... Again!
Why?
Well, until someone comes up with a device readable code that can hold about 1.236 GB of information (2,854,408,421,376 figures) - Deliver as much information from a printed media symbology (code) to have a phone with the corresponding decode program and a camera play a low-resolution video with sound for approximately 20 seconds, or have the phone reach out automatically to entertainer, advertiser, and manufacturer websites to retrieve additional database stored information via Internet Protocol … then one can dispute this claim!!!
IP (Internet Protocol) based PM Code uses 256 colors. Memory ranges to about 1,236GB (2,854,408,421,376 figures). Image Credit: C.I.A.
The best symbology ever?
The best symbology ever may well be the PM Code (PM = Paper Memory), developed by a relatively new Japanese start-up company known as Content Idea of Asia Co., Ltd. (C.I.A.), The algorithm basis comes from the DENSO Wave - developed QR Code – originally intended for use in tracking and aiding the complex task of automobile parts manufacturing and sourcing throughout the automobile assembly process. CL Code with data memory capability. Memory ranges from about 72KB (170,136 figures). Image Credit: C.I.A.
C.I.A. also has developed a “sister” code known as the CL Code (CL = Clear Code) which describes the effect of being able to add a code that does not need to be dark contrast against a light background to be decoded. This allows the information reference code to be laid on top of media in a transparent, layered look - in order to not take away from the printed media onto which it is applied.
Simple CL Code application in tomato photo. Image Credit: C.I.A.
The advantages of using the CL Code is that the customer’s viewing of marketing designs and images will not be hampered due to the application of an identifying Physical World Hyperlink or Physical World Identifier/Connection for the customer to use when getting additional information. One technique suggests that the CL Code may be printed in a band of matching product colored ink on the bottle. The information would not be able to be decoded until the contents of the bottle have been consumed or poured out … thus leaving the CL Code in a readable format.
Content Idea of Asia Co., Ltd. Explains the concept this way. Both the CL Code and its more robust “sister” PM Code are examples of 5th Generation Media.
What does this "5th Generation Media mean? Well,
1st Generation Media refers to paper media such as magazines, newspapers, and other printed media stratum.
2nd Generation Media refers to audio radio communication.
3rd Generation Media refers to television, video, and film media communications.
4th Generation Media refers to Information Technologies (IT) found in the digital world of computers and cellular telephones.
So now we come full circle and fuse the previous forms of communication together.
5th Generation Media allows the fusion of all forms of media to interact and cooperate, in order to take the advantage of each form to deliver a more effective level of communication through the application of this unique database found in a 3D (three-dimensional) color QR based code. A simple cellphone with a camera can unleash incredible variants of communication ranging from simple data, to sound, to video - YES VIDEO! … all at the snap of a camera button on the phone.
No IP address – just the PM Code and the “old media” adverts come to life! Applications include listening to portions of songs, videos, short how-to-use vignettes, security for access control, save, re-write, and store data media on flat format paper (instead of CD’s, DVD’s, or HD discs), and well, the sky is the limit.
Hey, how’s this - you are a curator of a museum and you would like the patrons to enjoy the exhibit a little more deeply with sound descriptions of what they are seeing. Place PM Codes next to each display and voila, the patron can hear all they wanted to know about the painting and the painter - complete with a video snippet on the painter’s technique. All of this interactive information without involving the audio/visual department and/or the equipment investment.
Next up?
The addition of smell - Okay, so this may be a little overboard ... but you get the idea!
