Tagtracker is software created by Someth;ng which runs on a mobile phone and allows datamatrix tags to link items tagged in the ‘real’ world with online resources such as websites, forums, weblogs, wiki’s etc.

The work has striking similarities to the Semapedia project but this is what datamatrix does best after all; linking ‘real’ place with ‘virtual’ space (object hyperlinking) and it’s difficult to tell which predates the other.

Unlike users of semapedia, who are encouraged to link things with reference information, here users are encouraged to mark their own territory with the tags, markers:

• ‘territory’ could be your office, your t-shirt, your business card, or anything physical.
• A ‘marker’ is a unique two-dimensional bitmap grid which associates with an online resource: a website, a forum, a weblog, a wiki, a corporate intranet, a sales catalogue, exhibition piece information.

Visitors to individuals territories, users of the tagtracker software, can photograph tags to connect to information online and find out more about the territory / item in the territory tagged:

The phone application turns a cameraphone into a ‘magic lens’ through which it can be used to locate, identify and connect to markers … The internet becomes a geographic, physical-world based resource. Discover communities local to your regular haunts, discover resources by taking a stroll, join in with groups you have physical contact with, email people you see in the street.

Note: Related work concerning object hyperlinking includes I can read you, Cemetry 2.0, Meghan Trainor’s RFID work, Moo-Pong: Kaleidoscope of Movie and Tagged the RFID exhibition at space.media.arts.