View source for Semacode

[[File:Semapedia01.jpg|thumb|192x192px|Semacode used for accessing Wikipedia in the form of Semapedia.]]
'''Semacode''' was a software company based in [[Waterloo, Ontario]], Canada,<ref>[http://semacode.com/about/company.html Semacode: Company Information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413051410/http://semacode.com/about/company.html |date=2009-04-13 }}</ref> known for a product with the same trade name – machine-readable [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]]/IEC 16022<ref>The first edition of iso-iec:16022 was 2000, replaced by [https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso-iec:16022:ed-2:v1:en 2006's second edition]</ref> [[Data Matrix]] [[2D barcode|barcodes]], which are used to encode [[Internet]] [[Uniform Resource Locator|URLs]].

Semacodes were primarily aimed at being used with [[cellular phone]]s which have built-in [[camera]]s, to quickly capture a [[Web site]] address for use in the phone's [[web browser]]. The system was created by Simon Woodside after he was thinking of a followup to the use of [[CueCat]] barcode scanners.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Ulbrich |first=Chris |title=Camera Phones Link World to Web |url=https://www.wired.com/2004/05/camera-phones-link-world-to-web/ |access-date=2025-11-05 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> When it launched it operated only on [[Nokia]] camera phones that use the [[Symbian Series 60]] operating system.<ref name=":0" />

The Semacode website states that Semacode tags are an "open system" and that tag creation is "completely unrestricted," with the SDK software tools being free of charge for non-commercial use.<ref>[http://semacode.com/ Semacode]</ref>

Suggestions for usage from the Semacode.org website<ref>[http://semacode.org/apps/potential/ semacode.org/apps/potential/] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927234108/http://semacode.org/apps/potential/ |date=September 27, 2007 }}</ref> included 2007:

* placing Semacode tags on posters, such as those for concerts and public performances. Those interested could use their mobile phone to take a photo of the tag, which could link them directly to the web page where they could order tickets.
* using Semacode tags and mobile phones to enable multilingual museum exhibits—a tag photographed at the exhibition entrance could set a language [[HTTP cookie|cookie]] in the phone's web browser, and subsequent Semacode tags displayed at each exhibit could then link the phone's browser directly to a web page about the item, displayed in the user's language of choice.
* placing Semacode tags on [[name tag]]s given to conference attendees. These tags could provide the corporate web address of each attendee's company, or their biography and contact details.

==See also==
{{Commons|Semacode}}
* [[QR Code]] an implementation of a similar concept invented in Japan.
* [[PDF417]]
* [[Object hyperlinking]]
* [[High Capacity Color Barcode]]
* [[SPARQCode]]
* [[Cauzin Softstrip]] an historical implementation of a similar concept introduced in the 1980s

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://semacode.com/ Semacode.com]
* [http://www.2dtg.com/decode Online Semacode/DataMatrix decoder]

{{Barcodes}}

[[Category:Barcodes]]
[[Category:Companies based in Waterloo, Ontario]]