Voice QR - bringing audio to the barcode generation

Rating: Jingle jangle…music for the barcode generation??

For my return to GoMo I thought I would write about a mobile service that has so been designed by techies and then someone has said..er what’s the market guys? I think this one fits nicely!. The big boss, well she’s not big..but she is the big cheese sent me a link to a story over on Techradar.

A three company consortium have set up Voice QR. Based in Japan, this new service allows the embedding of up to 2 seconds of audio in a mobile barcode. This allows some simple audio such as “Hello” or “Thanks for your hard work” to be hidden in the barcode. Anything you can fit in the time should work, I was thinking “Your fired” or “It’s over” for example might be good ones!

To activate this wonder of technology you simply scan the barcode with the camera in your mobile device and hey presto a little voice delivers the message. You don’t need to connect to a web site or other server based technology. The audio data is contained in the tweaked barcode along with a simple image. Voice QR see this as a way of delivering multi-media jingles on books, posters and product packaging. At the moment only seven phones have the necessary software to decode these barcodes, so Voice QR have not only got to convince the public to use this service but the handset manufacturers to add the additional software to decode as well.

We say: Er right! I am struggling to see this as anything other than tech over function. 2 seconds of crunchy low tech audio isn’t going to convince anyone to buy a product - surely the reason for this service. With the falling costs of DATA connections why not just link the barcode to a 15-20 second review of the product. In my mind, It would also be better if Voice QR’s barcode contained a happy birthday or anniversary message. I think this one is strictly for ultra geeks!!!..don’t expect to see this one coming to a store near you soon!

Related News:

1. Vangard voice cross enterprise mobile applications -can you add voice to a mobile barcode?
2. Android Scan Mobile Barcode Service wins Google Challenge
3. Mobile Advertising the Audio Apptera way for Iron Man or Incredible Hunk
4. Pepsi and four other reasons you need a mobile barcode advertising strategy
5. Microsoft to buy Tellme. Is this next generation voice mobile search?