November 19, 2014

Fujitsu uses LED light to embed data which can be detected by smartphone camera

by Shruti Shree

Most of us have used the barcode scanner in our smartphones at some point to get information about the product. Barcode might become a thing of the past as the Japanese IT giant Fujitsu has come with a method to embed data into an LED light. Just point your smartphone camera at the LED lit object and you will be able to see the information which is called up from the cloud server. The technology that Fujitsu has used here is colour modulation, to change the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) mix in LED lights. They brought changes in the intensity of each colour; the light can embed data without changing its characteristics. Embedding ID in objects in not a new concept, it has been done using NFC, QR codes and VLCs (Visible Light Communication). The unique feature that Fujitsu’s LED data is that it does not require a separate tag which can alter the looks of the product. If you are thinking that this technology could be used for mobile payments in future, you are absolutely right. But, Fujitsu’s thinking has gone far beyond that. Picture this, a performer lit by LEDs walks on the stage, you just point your smartphone camera at him/her and download the song he/she is singing!

Fujitsu plans to commercialize the LED light data embedding technology by next year. They are testing this technological marvel in many applications; till then you can keep imagining where all and in which ways this wonder of an LED could be used to embed what kind of data.