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'''Object hyperlinking''' is a term that refers to extending the [[Internet]] to objects and locations in the real world. Object hyperlinking aims to extend the Internet to the physical world by attaching tags with [[Uniform Resource Locator|URL]]s to tangible objects or locations. These object tags can then be read by a wireless mobile device and information about objects and locations retrieved and displayed.

However, object hyperlinking may also be sensible for contexts other than the Internet (e.g. with  [[data object]]s in [[data base]] administering or with text [[content management]]).

== System components ==
[[Image:Objectlinking.svg|thumb|right|380px|Components of an object hyperlinking scheme]]

Linking an object or a location to the Internet is a more involved process than linking two web pages. An object hyperlinking system requires seven components:

#A virtual or physical object tag to identify objects and locations. Some tagging systems are described below. To allow the object tags to be located they must be physically embedded in visual markers. For example, the [[Yellow arrow]] scheme [see below] prints [[Short message service|SMS]] tags on large adhesive yellow arrows, which can then be stuck on buildings etc.
#A means of reading physical tags, or locating virtual tags.
#A [[mobile device]] such as a [[mobile telephone]], a [[Personal digital assistant|PDA]] or a portable computer.
#Additional software for the mobile device.
#A commonly open wireless network, such as the existing [[2G]] and [[3G]] networks, for communication between the portable device and the server containing the information linked to the tagged object.
#Information on each linked object. This information could be in existing WWW pages, existing databases of price information etc., or have been specially created.
#A display to view the information on the linked object. At the present time this is most likely to be the screen of a mobile telephone.

== Tags and tag-reading systems ==
There are a number of different competing tagging systems.

;[[RFID]] tags
:A '''r'''adio '''f'''requency '''i'''dentification '''d'''evice (also known as an 'Arphid')<nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki> is a small transponder which can be read at short range by a transceiver (reader). Since RFID tags can be very small, they are often embedded in a more visible marker to allow them to be located.
:RFID readers can be used with mobile phones. Most modern smartphones include some form of RFID/NFC reader, used for things such as cashless payments.
:Many bus systems have begun installing RFID-based ticketing systems.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spivey |first=Mark |date=2017-03-16 |title=How RFID is Used in Public Transportation - Gateway RFID Store |url=https://gatewayrfidstore.com/rfid-used-public-transportation/ |access-date=2023-11-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> Other applications for RFID enabled smartphones include swapping electronic [[business card]]s between phones, and using a mobile to check in at an airport or hotel. Two RFID enabled devices may also be used to enable peer-to-peer transfer of data such as music, images or for synchronizing address books.
[[File:QR Code for rickroll.png|thumb|QR Code which links to [[Never Gonna Give You Up|Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up]], commonly known as a "Rickroll."]]
;Graphical tags
:A graphical tag consists of an image on a marker, which can be read by a mobile telephone camera. There are a number of competing systems, including open standards like Quick Response [[QR Code]]s, [[Datamatrix]], [[Semacode]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,63493,00.html?tw=wn_story_related|title=Wired article on semacodes|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref> (based on Datamatrix), and [[barcode]]s; or proprietary systems like [[ShotCode]]s. The design of such coding schemes needs to be rich enough to include much information and robust enough for the tag to be readable, even when partly obscured or damaged: tags might be on the outside of buildings and exposed to wear and the weather.
:Graphical tags have a number of advantages. They are easy to understand and cheap to produce. They can also be printed on almost anything, including t-shirts. Barcodes are a particularly attractive form of tagging because they are already very widely used, and [[smartphone]]s can read them.

;Alpha Tags
:An alpha tag comprises a short alphanumerical code, which can be printed on a marker or chalked on a wall. [[SMS]] or [[Rich Communication Services|RCS]] is then used to send the code and return a message. [[Yellow arrow]]s<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/01/AR.html|title=Washington Post article on Yellow Arrow scheme|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=23 May 2018}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> are an example of this form of tagging.

;Virtual tags
:In a virtual tagging system there is no physical tag at a location. Instead a URL as a meta-object is associated with a set of geographical coordinates. Using [[location-based service]]s a mobile phone  that enters a particular area can be used to retrieve all URLs associated with that area. The area can be set as a few metres or a much wider area.

;Hardlink
:A hardlink is an alphanumeric combination such as an object's common name or part number that when entered into a cell phone's web browser, targeting a hardlink database, returns information that may have been stored about the target object. It is one of several methods of object hyperlinking including graphical tags (2D barcodes), SMS tags and RFID tags. The hardlink method establishes a reference link between a physical world object and a [[.mobi]] web page just as a traditional [[hyperlink]] establishes an electronic reference to information on a Web page. A common cell phone is the medium of this information exchange that is initiated whenever a user makes a connection with a hardlink database, such as Objecs.mobi, and enters some alphanumeric sequence found on the target object. This alphanumeric sequence may be the objects part number or common name. This concept is also known as 'physical world connection', Object hyperlinking and [[Physical world hyperlink]], or simply phylink, with a number of companies developing, what are currently, non-standardized methods of creating this connection. This topic is not to be confused with, a [[hard link]] (two words) which is Unix terminology for a pointer to physical data on a storage volume. The hardlink method does not require a graphical object tag or any special software be loaded on the users cell phone, but does require the phone be internet enabled.  The consumer use and market for object hyperlinking methods is a very small and limited one in the U.S. with a slightly larger audience of users in some eastern countries.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114843472842861406 |title=The Bar Code Gets a Hip New Life |first=Jessica E |last=Vascellaro |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |date=May 24, 2006}}</ref> Unlike Japan, few US cell phone providers currently offer graphical tag readers or other support for object hyperlinking methods and this will likely continue until a clear linking method becomes dominant.

== Applications ==
The object [[hyperlink]]ing systems described above will make it possible to link comprehensive and editable information to any object or location. How this capability can best be used remains to be seen. What has emerged so far is a mixture of social and commercial applications.

*The publishers of the [[Lonely Planet]] guidebooks are issuing yellow arrows with one of their guidebooks and encouraging travellers to leave tags to stories and comments wherever they go.
*[[Siemens]] see their virtual tagging system being used to tag tourist sites, and also leave messages for friends. They also suggest that virtual tags could be used to link advertisements with locations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siemens.com/index.jsp?sdc_p=cd1034230fi1034534lmn1034576o1241443ps4uz3&sdc_sid=30145731726&sdc_bcpath=1034576.s_4,&
|title=Digital Graffitti &#91;sic&#93; Service|date=Feb 2, 2005|location=Munich|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060224141411/http://www.siemens.com/index.jsp?sdc_p=cd1034230fi1034534lmn1034576o1241443ps4uz3&sdc_sid=30145731726&sdc_bcpath=1034576.s_4,&|archive-date=February 24, 2006}}</ref>
*Wireless payment services (often called [[contactless payment]]) use NFC readers in phone to pay at stores.
*Japanese consumers are able to read barcodes with their mobiles and download comparative prices from Amazon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefeaturearchives.com/101242.html|title=Amazon Heads Off Barcode Comparison Shoppers|first=Carlo|last=Longino|date=Nov 23, 2004|access-date=August 21, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315020237/http://www.thefeaturearchives.com/101242.html|archive-date=March 15, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Image:Semapedia01.jpg|thumb|right|Using Semapedia to link from a tag to a Wikipedia article]]
*Semapedia have created a system for linking physical objects and Wikipedia articles using the Semacode tagging scheme. Graphical tags can be created that link to the URLs of individual Wikipedia articles. These tags can then be attached to the physical objects mentioned in the Wikipedia articles. Reading a tag with a [[camera phone]] will then retrieve an article from Wikipedia and display it on the phone screen, creating a "Mobile Wikipedia".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobile-weblog.com/archives/a_manifesto_for_taking_wikipedia_into_the_physical_world.html|title=The Mobile Technology Weblog - Location Based Services and all about Mobile Marketing - mobile technology, trends, technology trends, wireless, mobile marketing, mobile web, mobile internet, mobile 2.0|website=www.mobile-weblog.com|access-date=23 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051102154334/http://www.mobile-weblog.com/archives/a_manifesto_for_taking_wikipedia_into_the_physical_world.html|archive-date=2 November 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://addiator.blogspot.com/2005/06/mobile-wikipedia.html|title=Eclectica: A Mobile Wikipedia|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref>
*An alternative to using 2d barcodes is to apply [[computer vision]] techniques to identify more complex patterns and images. Companies like [[Visual Search Engine|kooaba]], Daem, or Neven Vision (acquired by Google in 2006)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-neven-vision-image-recognition/3728/|title=Google, Neven Vision & Image Recognition - Search Engine Journal|date=15 August 2006|access-date=23 May 2018}}</ref> develop image recognition platforms to turn any image into object hyperlinks.
*Microsoft has developed a system for creating hyperlinks using image matching.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=18368&ch=infotech|title=Mobile Web Searches Using Pictures|publisher=MIT Technology Review|first=Kate|last=Greene|date=March 13, 2007}}</ref>
*Google was planning in 2018 to tag 100,000 businesses in the United States with QR codes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zerogeography.blogspot.com/2009/12/codes-on-places.html|title=Redirecting|website=zerogeography.blogspot.com|access-date=23 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524004048/http://zerogeography.blogspot.com/2009/12/codes-on-places.html|archive-date=24 May 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Ambient intelligence]]
*[[Barcode]]
*[[QR Code]]
*[[Datamatrix]]
*[[Semacode]]
*[[Thinglink]]
*[[CueCat]]
*[[Near Field Communication]]
*[[Mobile tagging]]
*[[Linked Data]]
*[[Hyperdata]]
*[[Semantic Web]]
*[[SPARQCode]]
*[[Internet of Things]]
*[[Location-based service]]
*[[Near-field communication]]
*[[Radio-frequency identification]]

==Notes==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[http://www.semapedia.org/wordpress/?p=147 A video on creating and using 2D barcodes]
*[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0707/p12s02-stin.html Christian Science Monitor article on object linking]
*[http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/2006/03/internet-of-things-working.php  Internet of things: working bibliography]
*[http://www.tokyo-ubinavi.jp/en/ginza.html Tokyo Ubiquitous Technology Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203113603/http://www.tokyo-ubinavi.jp/en/ginza.html |date=2007-02-03 }}
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/business/01code.html?ex=1333080000&en=8bb1180541c7a895&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111202184229/http://www.kooaba.com/ First Visual Search Engine from kooaba]
*[http://www.iqengines.com/video_mobile.html  Video demonstration of object hyperlinking using mobile phone (mobile visual search)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016095333/http://www.iqengines.com/video_mobile.html |date=2009-10-16 }}

{{Ambient intelligence}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Object Hyperlinking}}
[[Category:Hypermedia]]
[[Category:Hypertext]]
[[Category:Technology neologisms]]
[[Category:Radio-frequency identification]]
[[Category:Internet of things]]