There are relatively low cost technologies in your everyday life that are capable of scanning two dimensional barcodes. If you've ever studied a scanner like the ones used in most retail establishments you know the technology. One is pictured to the right.
Most scanners in retail establishments scan one dimensional barcodes. You may know of barcodes as "UPC's," which appear on just about anything you buy now. Two dimensional barcodes can represent much more information, more densely packed, than one dimensional barcodes. Two dimensional barcode readers are readily available, and can even be purchased relatively cheaply.
Currently, there aren't many PDA-like devices with a built-in 2D laser scanner. The ones we know about are expensive and difficult to acquire in small quantities. Alternatives include optical scanning, using a small camera-like device. PDAs with cameras are available relatively cheaply.
Once the barcode is scanned, using a scanner (laser or optical), it is ready for processing. The processing the text link tells you more about this processing.
