Give this one a shot?

Datamatrix, for those to whom this is news, is a new form of barcode, and is meant specifically for use with cellphones. The idea is that a rightly equipped cellphone can scan a datamatrix code with their camera, it will return a binary pattern, and yield a website, phone number, email address, or string of text.

This technology is, for the most part, untapped, and in my opinion, it has a really great potential. Think about going grocery shopping, and for each item you put into your cart, you could scan a datamatrix code for it. The stores could put this on their labels, with the price. Your phone could then add up the cost of your trip, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise at checkout that you’d spend almost $50 on instant noodles. Tourist attractions could be stamped with them, so if you wanted more information about where you were, a page could be retrieved, along with your LAT and LON coordinates, so you could get directions to your next stop.

There are fashionable uses, too, for those not obsessed with mapping. Imagine a datamatrix on your Vans, sewn into the shoulder of a jacket, or tiled on a tshirt. People would be snapping pictures of you all day, just to figure out where this datamatrix might lead. It’s a really cool technology, and vastly untapped, for the most part.