Making the world “clickable”

New technology is being developed by a company called Nextcode that would basically allow you to use your cell phone or PDA to “click” on things you see in the physical world.

What they are developing is a way for phones to take a picture of a bar code on an item you find. The barcode is then interpreted by software designed by Nextcode, called ConnexTo, and serves up information about the item to your phone immediately. Information presented can be in the form of text, a web page, video, audio, or pretty much anything found online.

In Japan, real estate agents are already using this software on for sale signs so people can get information about a house without calling.

Currently, Nextcode is developing a project with Boston’s Freedom Trail and the Wentsworth Institute of Technology. The company plans to attach barcodes to important historic or cultural sites to help tourists and sightseers gather more information about an area or thing.

Here’s a demonstration of how it works: