JKR

At £3 a pop, Bokodes are not the future just yet. But a version which does not require a powered LED is in development which is expected to cost just five cents. For that investment you get a code which can be read obliquely from up to twenty meters by mobile phones. The Bokode can send out complex information, find a particular product on a crowded shelf, even transmit little films.

So far, so Minority Report. But as developer Dr Mohan puts it “(the box to the side) may say ‘hey look at me, I’m a dollar cheaper’”. Given the creative potential of the new wonder-code, one hopes brands take the opportunity to convey more poetic or engaging sentiments, or else consumers will be left with the high tech equivalent of a shelf wobbler, in which case the technology will add little to their lives and be left on the shelf.