[Sigia-l] Scanning (was: From multi-touch to multi-face?)

[Will Parker]

On Jan 27, 2007, at 1:43 PM, Lee Hsieh wrote:

> There are phones in Japan which require this dual mode interface
> primarily for scanning barcodes.

There have been many attempts in the US to develop businesses based  
delivering content using barcodes printed in or on magazines.  
Googling the phrase "barcode scan history" will provide leads, if  
you're interested.

So far, every one of them has been such an abject failure that one  
can reasonably expect any new attempt to be met with laughter. Of  
course, all those previous attempts have been based on dedicated  
scanners tethered to computers, and hence were neither mobile nor  
camera-based, and so didn't lend themselves to casual use.

> What happens is that users need to aim
> their cameras via CLI with the phone closed then reopen to process the
> result.

What's the definition of 'CLI' in this case? None of the definitions  
at www.acronymfinder.com seem to fit.

> You'd be amazed has how something seemingly simple is fairly
> complex in terms of alternate pathes, error conditions(eg, low  
> battery,
> signal, low memory, etc)

I'm less concerned about the engineering problems than the user  
experience. Does the user have to switch to a different physical face  
of the phone, or is it just a different section of the normal  
'primary display' UI?

The chief design problem in the Apple 'bifacial' laptop design is  
that the user has to be given sufficient affordances or education to  
successfully complete a task that requires that they temporarily  
leave behind the entire set of _physical_ controls they're accustomed  
to.

Some people are likely to get confused in that situation. For  
example, I'd expect a small but measurable spike in tech support  
calls that result from people orienting the 'top' of the removable  
media toward the top of the laptop, which is probably NOT the correct  
orientation. With that in mind, I'm interested in how one designs for  
those cases where a task requires the user to leave one UI display  
and physically move to another location to complete the task.

Since this involves instructions like "Go over to Station #2 and pump  
the red handle three times, then come back here", I'll think I'll  
call this the "Myst UI problem".

> btw, the barcodes being scanned are simply for price info but actual
> product info and rich media.  In many cases, companies will display
> multiple barcodes which can then be 'stitched together to play music,
> video, animations, etc.

Has there been any discussion of cam-phone users "stealing" content  
by scanning it at the magazine stand instead of buying the magazine?

I _have_ seen an article about bookstore owners complaining about cam- 
phone users checking for competitive prices by scanning barcodes and  
comparing the prices at online bookstores or simply snapping pictures  
of every page of an interesting article. I've also seen a sign in a  
popular local Japanese market that prohibited all cell phone use in  
the book & magazine section, ESPECIALLY taking pictures of books and  
magazines.

- Will
Will Parker
wparker at ChannelingDesign.com

"The only people who value your specialist knowledge are the ones who  
already have it." - William Tozier