Inputting data into a handheld device - and extracting data in a meaningful, easily interpreted way - is a hurdle that, although seemingly low-level, presents a real problem for developers looking to produce data-rich applications.  In Japan, the QR barcode system has been implemented with some degree of success, using matrix codes that can store address or URLs revealed by ’scanning’ them with a cellphone’s camera; Android developer Tom Gibara has created what could possibly be the next level of matrix coding - a system he calls Moseycode - which not only uses matrices to input data but can then overlay the visual output in real-time on the cellphone’s screen.

As the video (after the cut) shows, the Android software can recognise a 2D barcode glyph and then, according to its physical orientation, display varying information overlaid onto the glyph itself or, as in the second video, near to the glyph.  In this early demo, running on the Android SDK platform rather than as a mockup, the Moseycode tracks the four categories (author, location, status and comments) and can be zoomed in/out by moving the matrix code closer to or further from the cellphone’s camera.

What makes Moseycode special is the potential for integration with other cellphone applications, such as Google Maps and GPS location, and the way that output data is not merely presented in static form (as with earlier implementations of 2D barcodes) but as an active, interactive stream. 

Augmented Reality has had interest from mainstream manufacturers before - notably Nokia with their GeoTagging research handset - and the always-on connectivity of a cellphone, coupled with the potential prevalence of the Android platform, could combine to be the “killer application” mobile data has so far lacked.

[Moseycode video via Hello Android]