W-41, The New Barcode for Your Body
I’m always a fan when a company comes out with a new idea rather than creating a commodity out of a design that’s already out there. Or maybe that’s what these guys are doing?
Either way, I stumbled across this new company in a small article in wired magazine that combined t-shirts, social networking and you cell phone. Although the idea is still growing on me and I can’t see it getting much more than a cult following, the concept is great! Take something that’s been around forever, the t-shirt, and make the message it delivers fluid.
I’m not talking about creating a digital screen print on a t-shirt that changes. I’m talking about a new company called W-41. It’s a new company out of the Netherlands that’s decided to take your t-shirt to the next level.
W-41 places a design on the back of their designer t-shirts. The design looks like a futuristic barcode. Then while you’re out at a club, the supermarket, or walking your dog, anyone with a phone and their free application can snap a photo of your barcode and up pops what you’d like. A message, your website, your facebook info, your myspace, or anything you choose.
While the idea in this application seems a little hard to get widespread popularity (unless of course it becomes standard on every t-shirt design) the concept is great. I’ve heard of applications for cell phones that have barcode readers and pop up info of products right in stores but this goes even further. It marries the photo recognition software with useful applications, right on your cell phone.
Think of all the possibilities: A cell phone app that takes pictures of products or barcodes and up pops Google Shopping Search to tell you how cheap you can get it online, or amazon reviews to tell you how bad the product is.
Portable apps are tying together every aspect of our life and if you can get even a small cult following, you’re doing something right.