Despite several smartphone apps designed to take the place of the traditional paper business card, none has improved on the original. But don’t get cocky, paper card, because you’re still pretty useless when it comes to actually finding you when we need to get in touch with a new acquaintance.
MIT startup TouchBase Technologies has developed a brilliant blend of both worlds with paper cards that instantly transfer the card holder’s contact details to a smartphone simply by tapping it against the device.
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The secret ingredient is conductive ink circuitry imbedded in each card. Here are the relevant details courtesy of Mashable:
“When tapped against a smartphone screen in TouchBase’s proprietary app, the card redirects to a digital profile with the cardholder’s photo and contact information, with links to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, as well as photos and videos of creative projects. This is in contrast to other card-scanning technologies, which rely on a photograph of the card to transcribe information (LinkedIn and Evernote both offer such apps).”
The TouchBase technology is being funded through an IndieGoGo campaign. At the time of this writing, it’s exceeded it’s $30,000 goal by $15, with 32 days left to go. Base touched.
