the network architecture lab @
the columbia university
graduate school of architecture, planning, and preservation

UPC Database

Beyond research projects on products, the studio developed the idea of a free, global database of objects. Most consumer products today carry a Universal Product Code [UPC]. Programs to decode the UPC could be installed on cameraphones and webcam-equipped computers (Delicious Library for the Mac OS already allows you to catalog your media through such a means). The UPC would then be used to access a wiki containing the genealogy of the object as well as consumer information, safety recalls, reviews, and other, still unimagined information.