Utilities
I went on vacation recently, and tried out two of the utilities suggested for this thing. One I like and one I thought was pretty darn useless.
The useless one? Google Goggles. I know, it's hard to believe - a Google product not worth much. But that's my experience with it. I've read other reviews, and, while a number of people like it, just as many feel as I do. It looks easy to use, but it sure didn't deliver. In theory, you open the app, and point your device at whatever you want to identify or get more information about. The app scans across the screen and supposedly tells you what you're seeing, with links to related websites. We visited San Francisco on our trip, and I tried Google Goggles on both the Coit Tower and the Transamerica building. The program recognized neither of them. Now I'll grant you the Coit Tower, while very well known in SF, might not be well enough known to make Goggle's database. I do know they've been to SF, as the Golden Gate Bridge is in their tutorial! But the Transamerica building? Even if you don't know the name, I bet you've seen pictures of it. It is to SF what the Empire State Building is to New York City. The best Google Goggles could do, and that was through the GPS on my phone, was show me where I was on the map. Not quite what I was hoping for.
I had more success with the RedLaser Barcode and QR Scanner. We also visited Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawaii. I scanned the QR code at the steam vents and went to this page:
So why, you ask, does a QR code take you to this page? Well, this is a park with active volcanoes. And volcanoes emit dangerous gases. Those gases concentrate in different areas of the park, depending on the wind's direction. The park's public facilities were built with the prevailing trade winds in mind, keeping visitors upwind of the most dangerous gases most of the time. One section of road is totally shut off since an eruption in 2008, as it's too dangerous too often - it's that serious. And note I said most of the time. Winds do shift, and there can be dangerous levels of gases and particulates anywhere in the park. Rangers actually carry portable detectors with them that will beep if levels rise out of a certain range. Pregnant women and those with certain health conditions in particular must be aware of what's happening to protect themselves. Having QR codes scattered throughout the park - much of which is far, far away from the rangers - allows visitors to make sure the air is still safe. I'm guessing this might be among the more unusual uses of this app reported here!
We've also used readers to get to calorie counts on restaurant menus - handy when you're trying to track your intake. My library has a geocache that utilizes a code, and one of our other librarians created a code to get teens to a video book talk. I can see creating codes to lead patrons to information about upcoming programs, or to connect to more information about something we're doing. It would likely work best for teens, who are comfortable with the technology and unafraid of experimenting.
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