High Capacity Color Barcode
Encyclopedia
High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB) is the name coined by Microsoft
for its technology of encoding data in a 2D "barcode" using clusters of colored triangles instead of the square pixels traditionally associated with 2D barcodes. Data density is increased by using a palette of 4 or 8 colors for the triangles, although HCCB also permits the use of black and white when necessary. It has been licensed by the ISAN International Agency for use in its International Standard Audiovisual Number
standard, and serves as the basis for the Microsoft Tag mobile tagging
application .
The technology was created by Gavin Jancke, an engineering director at Microsoft Research
. Quoted by BBC News in 2007, he said that HCCB was not intended to replace traditional barcode
s. "It's more of a 'partner' barcode …. The UPC
barcodes will always be there. Ours is more of a niche barcode where you want to put a lot of information in a small space."
A Microsoft Tag is essentially a machine readable web link, analogous to a URL shortening
link: when read, the Tag application sends the HCCB data to a Microsoft server, which then returns the publisher's intended URL. The Tag reader then directs the user's mobile browser to the appropriate website, not unlike how CueCat
operated. Because of this redirection, Microsoft is also able to track users and provide Tag analytics
to publishers. During the beta, the creation of tags for both commercial and noncommercial use is free.
-equipped phones can, at the user's option, send coordinate data along with the HCCB data, allowing location-specific information to be returned (e.g. for a restaurant advertisement, a navigational map to the nearest location could be shown).
, URL, Online Photos, Online Video or contact details for the publisher.
Two-dimensional tags can be used to transform traditional marketing media (for example, print advertising, billboards, packaging and merchandising in stores or on LCDs) into gateways for accessing information online. Tags can be applied as gateways from any type of media to an internet site or online media.
The Microsoft Tag reader application is a free download for an Internet-capable mobile device with a camera. The Microsoft Tag reader is compatible for Internet-capable mobile devices, including many based on the Windows Phone 7
, Windows Mobile
, BlackBerry
, Java, Android, Symbian S60
, iPhone
and Java ME
platforms.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for its technology of encoding data in a 2D "barcode" using clusters of colored triangles instead of the square pixels traditionally associated with 2D barcodes. Data density is increased by using a palette of 4 or 8 colors for the triangles, although HCCB also permits the use of black and white when necessary. It has been licensed by the ISAN International Agency for use in its International Standard Audiovisual Number
International Standard Audiovisual Number
International Standard Audiovisual Number is a unique identifier for audiovisual works and related versions, similar to ISBN for books. It was developed within an ISO TC46/SC9 working group...
standard, and serves as the basis for the Microsoft Tag mobile tagging
Mobile tagging
Mobile tagging is the process of providing data read from tags for display on mobile devices, commonly encoded in a two-dimensional barcode, using the camera of a camera phone as the reader device. The contents of the tag code is usually a URL for information addressed and accessible through...
application .
The technology was created by Gavin Jancke, an engineering director at Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
. Quoted by BBC News in 2007, he said that HCCB was not intended to replace traditional barcode
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...
s. "It's more of a 'partner' barcode …. The UPC
Universal Product Code
The Universal Product Code is a barcode symbology , that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item...
barcodes will always be there. Ours is more of a niche barcode where you want to put a lot of information in a small space."
Technology
HCCB uses a grid of colored triangles to encode data. Depending on the target use, the grid size (total number of symbols), symbol density (the printed size of the triangles), and symbol count (number of colors used) can be varied. HCCB can use an eight-, four-, or two-color (black-and-white) palette. Microsoft claims that laboratory tests using standard off-the-shelf printers and scanners have yielded readable eight-color HCCBs equivalent to approximately 3,500 characters per square inch.Microsoft Tag
Microsoft Tag is an implementation of HCCB using 4 colors in a 5 x 10 grid. Additionally, the code works in monochrome. The print size can be varied to allow reasonable reading by a mobile cameraphone; for example, a Tag on a real estate sign might be printed large enough to be read from a car driving by, whereas a Tag in a magazine could be smaller because the reader would likely be nearer.A Microsoft Tag is essentially a machine readable web link, analogous to a URL shortening
URL shortening
URL shortening is a technique on the World Wide Web in which a Uniform Resource Locator may be made substantially shorter in length and still direct to the required page. This is achieved by using an HTTP Redirect on a domain name that is short, which links to the web page that has a long URL...
link: when read, the Tag application sends the HCCB data to a Microsoft server, which then returns the publisher's intended URL. The Tag reader then directs the user's mobile browser to the appropriate website, not unlike how CueCat
CueCat
The CueCat is a cat-shaped handheld barcode reader that was developed in early 1990s and released in 1999 by the now defunct Digital Convergence Corporation, which connected to computers using the PS/2 keyboard port and USB...
operated. Because of this redirection, Microsoft is also able to track users and provide Tag analytics
Web analytics
Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage....
to publishers. During the beta, the creation of tags for both commercial and noncommercial use is free.
Consumer
Users can download the free Microsoft Tag reader application to their Internet-capable mobile device with camera, launch the reader and read a tag using their phone’s camera. Depending on the scenario, this triggers the intended content to be displayed. Some GPSGlobal Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
-equipped phones can, at the user's option, send coordinate data along with the HCCB data, allowing location-specific information to be returned (e.g. for a restaurant advertisement, a navigational map to the nearest location could be shown).
Application
The Microsoft Tag application gives people the ability to use a mobile phone's on-board camera to take a picture of a tag, and be directed to information in any form, such as text, vCardVCard
vCard is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web or Instant Messaging...
, URL, Online Photos, Online Video or contact details for the publisher.
Two-dimensional tags can be used to transform traditional marketing media (for example, print advertising, billboards, packaging and merchandising in stores or on LCDs) into gateways for accessing information online. Tags can be applied as gateways from any type of media to an internet site or online media.
The Microsoft Tag reader application is a free download for an Internet-capable mobile device with a camera. The Microsoft Tag reader is compatible for Internet-capable mobile devices, including many based on the Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...
, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
, BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
, Java, Android, Symbian S60
S60 (software platform)
The S60 Platform is a software platform for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS. It was created by Nokia, who made the platform open source and contributed it to the Symbian Foundation. S60 has been used by mobile device manufacturers including Siemens mobile, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Panasonic...
, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and Java ME
Java Platform, Micro Edition
Java Platform, Micro Edition, or Java ME, is a Java platform designed for embedded systems . Target devices range from industrial controls to mobile phones and set-top boxes...
platforms.
Related technologies
- Xerox Parc DataGlyphs are a related technology as they use a barcodeBarcodeA barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...
like technology to encode data—however it is possible to use color images as the source material. - Color Construct Code is one of the few other barcode symbologys designed to take advantage of multiple colors. But Instead of encoding a single tag, it is designed to store files including multimedia, possibly along with a URIÚriÚriis a village and commune in the comitatus of Pest in Hungary....