Invisible copyright. Invisible barcodes. Invisible QR codes. Invisible product authenticity verification. Invisible watermarks. Now Digimarc engineers would correct me for calling them "invisible". They are only invisible to the wavelengths human brains can decipher. So, they're technically not invisible. Technically, they're in the realm of steganographics, embedded information that is hidden from human perception but readable by scanners. But "Now with steganography!" is not a very marketable handle.
This new technology is revolutionizing the retail industry by making UPCs and OR codes virtually obsolete, since packages can now be printed over the whole surface with Digimarc watermarks. A conventional UPC scanner can pick these up, and from any angle. So retailers and wholesalers don't need to invest in new scanners. You can even download a Digimarc reading app onto your smartphone or computer.
Digimarc codes can also be embedded in the packaging of products to defend against .
It also enables the verification of digital copyrights and patent, whether it's visual or audio media. This first ad in this post, in fact, is embedded with a digital copyright watermark. n fact, all of the original, hi-res maps of one of my blogs (Obscure Battles) are protected by Digimarc watermarks, so they can't be used or republished without my permission (and you can't Photoshop them out, in case you were wondering).
My task in helping them with their advertising was to simply explain the advantages of this technology to retailers, artists, and product manufacturers. Without using technical language.
