QR codes – Backerjack

YoBox remembers what’s in moving boxes, stores data digitally

The stresses of moving are endless. Putting everything in boxes can be tedious and finding them again is a nightmare. People label their boxes, but there always seems to be minutiae that gets lost in the move.

The YoBox personal storage management system was designed around an Android and iOS app that works in conjunction with multi-colored YoBox sticker labels that are NFC and QR enabled. The user just has to take photos of all the items being put in a box or list the items in the box using the app, seal the box with a unique YoBox sticker label, scan the label using the app, name the box via the app, and confirm it. Once registered, the YoBox info will be saved onto a secure cloud server and stored there.

For a $20 pledge, backers will get a set of 10 labels that each contain unique NFC and QR codes, allowing them to manage the storage of 10 boxes starting in April. The system’s Boston developer is looking to raise $20,000 on Kickstarter.

The storage management system seems cleverly designed. One downside is that the YoBox system may work better for Android device users than those with iPhones, which don’t provide NFC in reader mode. The QR code will still work on iPhones, but unlike NFC and other radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies, QR codes requires line of sight, so the QR code must be legible to the camera. QR codes can also be damaged by environmental elements including extended sun or water exposure. Still, the idea is a clever way to match the convenience of digital with the necessity of keeping track of YoBox remembers what’s in moving boxes, stores data digitallyphysical items.

Wear both your heart and digital life on your sleeve with youWare QR accessories

]The youPass app by ThinkYou, Inc. has taken steps to incorporate social media accounts and other pertinent information associated with someone’s digital life, and compiled them for easy sharing. While it’s much easier to have everything centralized, it still requires a smartphone to be taken out and fiddled with just to share. As a result, the company has come up with a solution: a line of accessories dubbed youWare.

Each youWare accessory features a QR code that can be synchronized with a youPass account, so the code only needs to be scanned. Afterward, users can set what exactly another connection gets to see, so different connections can get different information. A wide variety of options, from silicone to leather to paracord to stainless steel bands, start at $5 and work their way up to $89. If the campaign reaches their $50,000 goal, backers should expect their own in May 2015.

The youPass/youWare combo is an admirable attempt at eliminating the many unnecessary steps at simply connecting with each other, but still requires a proprietary app to do so, not to mention accessing the phone to get all the info in the first place. Their stretch goal of incorporating NFC support would really transform this approach from a novelty to something truly useful, but then the company would run into the problem of lacking some smartphone compatibility. As polished as this approach may be, there are definite holes: making something like this truly accessible to all means the creation of a mobile standard, not just an app.