2D barcodes on printed document

Abstract

Two Dimensional (2D) barcodes are being rapidly deployed in the field of mobile tagging because of its low production cost. Many mobile phones equipped with cameras can be easily used to capture a barcode image and act as a decoder to retrieve the encoded information. Mobile tagging has found its applications in many commercial and business areas.

Microsoft Office software applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint are commonly used text editing, data management and presentation tools in commercial and education environments. However, problems may arise when it comes to multimedia illustrations on the printed versions. With the aid of 2D barcode, the audio and video information could be easily “printed” onto papers and become readily accessible through Mobile Tagging.

This project focuses at creating an add-in function to embed 2D barcode encoding function into one of the popular presentation tools, Microsoft PowerPoint 2010. The add-in function would convert user inputs, such as the URL of web links, into one of the popular 2D barcodes, Data Matrix. This would provide readers accessibility to supplementary materials and multi-media information even if they are only holding onto the printed version of the document, simply by scanning the barcode using the camera of their smart phones. The software client installed on the smart phone would decode and lead the reader to the proper source, through Wi-Fi or 3G network, anytime and anywhere.

This application could be further extended into other Microsoft Office products, such as Microsoft Word 2010 and Microsoft Excel 2010, as they all are sharing similar user interface.