Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
10
Print-to-Web Linking Technology Using
a Mobile Phone Camera and its Applications
in Japan
Zheng Liu
1
C4 Technology, Inc., Meguro Tokyu Bldg., 2-13-17 Kamiosaki Shinagawa-ku,
Tokyo 141-0021, Japan
zliu@c4t.jp
http://c4t.jp/
Summary.
In recent years, with the rapid spread of mobile phones, the technol-
ogy of print-to-web linking using mobile phone camera has attracted increasing
attention. The print-to-web linking technology using a mobile phone camera is a
new technique. Users can instantly link from the printed image to a related web-
site where more information can be obtained by taking a picture with a mobile
phone camera. This is an application of print-to-web linking technology using mo-
bile phone camera. Many techniques using QR (quick response) code or bar code
have been commercialized. Yet makers and advertising agencies are still trying to de-
velop new techniques to replace them. This is because of the dull designs of QR code
and bar code. The proposed methods using the watermarking techniques and image
recognition techniques have been paid more attention. There are still a number of
restrictions on their real applications. The general use of them remains challenging
problems. A significant problem is the question of how will the future of print-to-web
linking technology develop. In this chapter, I will introduce the methods of print-
to-web linking technology using mobile phone camera and its applications in Japan
in recent years.
10.1 Introduction
The mobile phone is one of the most significant technological advances of the
20th century. It has been reported that, in the last 10 years, the number of
mobile phone subscribers has grown from 16 million in 1991 to an astounding
figure of 941 million in 2001. The world mobile phone figures are estimated
to grow to about 2.2 billion by 2006 [1]. An investigation done for the mobile
phone market in 2005 showed that the mobile phone industry had a record
first quarter with worldwide sales totaling 180.6 million units. A 17 percent
increase from the first quarter of 2004, according to the report made by Screen
Studio [2]. With the fast growth of mobile phone market, a mobile phone will
play increasingly important roles in our daily life than a traditional phone. It
