Digimarc in the USA, have been the leaders in digital watermarks in photographic images for many years.
In 2011, they announced a new form that is invisible to humans and can be embedded into any image using their online services and through Photoshop.
The key development is that this watermark acts like a 2D barcode ( think invisible QR code ) with active links to web sites, digital files, and e-resources - AND it can be printed using standard print processes.
Invisible Active Hotspots
What this means is that any printed page ( book, postcard, magazine, newspaper ) can include many active spots, each of which links to a digital resource. At present these watermarks are read using an iphone or android mobile phone app, and the link is displayed or acted on within the phone using it data services.
Commercial Applications
In the commercial market, this is promising direct sales off printed images and advertisements, video off sports images in newspapers, links to booking services, social network connections, etc.
A number of magazines in the USA are using this technology, and Fairfax through the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are trialling links from print images to ads and digital services.
Publishing Applications
This technology places the book back into the spotlight as a portal to digital resources. The embedding of the watermark is simple and can be part of the general processing of images in book production. It does not require any special print process - it works down to newsprint or inkjet quality.
Portal and Ticket
What is means is that the book becomes both the portal and the ticket to digital resources.
* Students of all ages do not need to work out or manage URLs to access information, this is fixed into the image, graphs, or even chunks of text on the page.
* Teachers can have confidence in the integrity of the link and the age suitability, as it becomes the publishers responsibility ( as it has been for printed content )
* Schools don't have to be concerned about privacy issues and student email login data, as the book is the valid ticket to that resource, and no further user authorisation or payment is needed.
* Publishers do not need to maintain databases of user data and passwords.
* Equity issues are covered to some degree, because all students will have access to the print book content.
* With the book as the ticket, the second-hand text sales and book loan schemes remain valid options.
Small Publishers
Because the technology is undemanding, this opens the field for single books and small publishers to offer digitally enhanced print products. While the embedded link stays fixed in each watermark, the content at the end of the link can vary and be updated. The link could be to government or external resources, as well as video and data on the publishers server.
Unresolved Issues
At the moment, the reading of the watermark is limited to smart phones and ipads. Discussion is being held with barcode manufacturers about adding the software to scanners so that PCs and netbooks can be used to call up the links.
Links for More Information
This technology is going to revolutionise magazine, newspaper and display advertising. And it also will change the direction of e-resources in schools and universities. It is a positive step in the opening up of libraries and classes to the potential of digital resources without commitment to proprietary or subscription services.
Tom Danby
