Microsoft Research announces their new AURA barcode reader. AURA is an “Advanced User Resource Annotation” device that turns a cellphone’s camera into a barcode reader.
The AURA is a software and hardware package that uses a special lens adaptor to capture barcode images for decoding through the beta software. Willing beta-testers can get their free kit by signing up with Microsoft Research’s beta team. Once decoded, the software will lookup the information linked to the barcode on the web and report back with search-style results. But it should be noted that the AURA is in its beta stage, so you can expect the final product to be significantly different from the beta version. Namely, the lens adaptor will likely be integrated into the mobile phone.