Casio uses what's called "visible light communication technology" in their new PicapiCamera iPhone app, which at first blush seems like nothing more than an overly simplistic version of a QR code. But while it's undoubtedly more simple, it could potentially see more uptake than the unpopular-with-consumers QR technology.

The PicapiCamera app flashes, on-screen, a circle that alternates between being red, green and blue. The camera on another iPhone captures those color changes, which are in fact encoded data in the form of a single 8-bit word and ID number. The receiving phone then sends that code up into the cloud, using it as a key to download attendant data to the receiving phone.

Because the technology is simpler, it can provide a much longer reach. For example, you need to be right on top of a QR code to snap a photo of it; with Casio's app, if the flashing dot was increased in size to say, 30 centimeters, it could be picked up by phones as far as 100 meters away. Meaning you could conceivably blanket an entire train platform, airport concourse or sidewalk outside of a movie theater, for instance.

Check it out:

via diginfo tv